ABUJA - Nigeria will start selling crude oil in its naira currency to the Dangote refinery from Oct. 1, the finance ministry said in a statement, in a move aimed at easing foreign exchange pressure on the country's main oil refinery.

The $20 billion Dangote facility, billed to be the largest in Africa at full throttle, has struggled to secure enough crude to meet its 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity since production started in January.

Dangote previously had to buy oil on the international market and it has accused Nigeria's oil regulator of failing to enforce a law that requires producers to supply domestic refiners.

The government gave state oil firm NNPC approval last month to start selling crude to the refinery in the local currency.

Despite supply constraints, Nigerian refiners including Dangote have raised their domestic crude requirements to 597,700 bpd in the second half of 2024, up from 483,000 bpd in the first half, according to the regulator.

(Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)