By Bassey Udo
Refiners of petroleum products in West Africa say the time has come for them to forge a common front and break from their continued dependence on foreign markets to define their reality.
The refiners, mostly from Nigeria and other players in the West African sub-region, are participating in the two-day Second Annual West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference, which began on Tuesday in Abuja.
The conference jointly organised by NMDPRA, S&P Global Commodity Insights and the West Africa Regulator Forum (WARF) is on the theme: “Funding West Africa Infrastructure & Distribution to Create a Transparent Market for Regional Price Benchmarks.”
Speaking at the opening session, the Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Rabiu Umar, said West Africa, and indeed Africa, is well endowed not to continue to be at the receiving end of the fallouts from the crisis in the global petroleum market.
Umar, who is also the Chairman of the West Africa Regulator Forum (WARF), urged Nigeria and other petroleum producing countries in West Africa not to continue to depend on foreign markets in determining the prices of petroleum products in their domains.
The region, he said, must come together to develop an independent fuel pricing mechanism that would reflect its peculiar market realities, including local supply and demand, refining capacity and prevailing economic conditions.
“We cannot continue to rely on petroleum products pricing references from Western Europe and the Mediterranean, which exposes African consumers to external shocks that may have little or no connection with developments in the region.
“The growth in refining capacity across Africa in recent times has made it increasingly necessary for the continent to establish a pricing mechanism that better reflects its own market conditions”, he said.
Emphasizing the need for massive investment in infrastructure, logistics, market transparency and operational efficiency to establish a regional petroleum pricing and trading hub, Umar said the conference was conceptualized to focus on mobilising funding for West African infrastructure and distribution systems to create transparent regional price benchmarks.
Umar said the conference, which serves as a rallying point for regulators, government officials, refiners, traders, financiers, infrastructure investors and other energy market players from the region, has recorded significant strides since its maiden edition in 2025.
He said at the inaugural conference in 2025, a roadmap was established towards developing a West African refined-products reference market, with emphasis on reliable refining capacity, stronger logistics and storage networks, interconnected ports, roads, rail and pipelines, harmonised standards and transparent market data.
Beyond the institutionalisation of regional regulatory cooperation through the West Africa Regulators Forum, he said effort has been made towards establishing a West African reference pricing mechanism as well as building a deeper collaboration with S&P Global Commodity Insights.
These developments, he pointed out, represent only the foundation of the proposed market, adding that there was need to go beyond regulatory cooperation to build physical infrastructure, commercial liquidity, market information and operational excellence required for a credible trading hub.
He said Africa already possessed the key ingredients for a vibrant regional petroleum market, including abundant resources, growing demand and expanding refining capacity.
“What we must now build is the infrastructure that efficiently connects all three,” Umar said.
He identified refineries, pipelines, storage terminals, jetties, depots, ports, rail networks, road corridors, marine logistics, strategic reserves and digital trading platforms as critical components of the infrastructure required to connect production with markets.
Investments in these infrastructure, he noted, should not be pursued merely for their own sake, but focused on cutting down the cost of transporting petroleum products, improving security of supply, increasing inventory visibility and expanding the population of credible market participants.
Calling on countries in the region to adopt a more integrated approach in dealing with the issue, Umar said strategically locating refining, storage, port and distribution facilities could serve multiple markets if supported by predictable cross-border arrangements.
Acknowledging Africa’s huge infrastructure deficit as an investment opportunity that could be harnessed, Umar identified pipelines, product transportation systems, storage facilities, marine terminals, refinery expansion, road and rail logistics, gas infrastructure, digital commodity exchanges, product-tracking systems and trading platforms as areas capable of attracting capital.
“Our responsibility as governments and regulators is therefore to create the conditions that allow capital to move confidently,” he said.
Besides, he said inefficient ports, terminals, pipelines, storage systems and logistics networks could undermine the benefits of infrastructure investment by creating bottlenecks and increasing costs, adding that improved turnaround times at ports and terminals, safer and more reliable pipeline and storage operations, could result in sustained refinery utilisation and efficiency.
He made a case for the deployment of technology for inventory management, product tracking, demand forecasting, scheduling and operational visibility, saying the efficiency of the system delivering petroleum products would ultimately influence price competitiveness.
Umar also called for greater regulatory harmonization across West Africa, noting that differences in product specifications, licensing procedures, tariffs, data definitions and cross-border processes could make regional trade more expensive.
He foresees the West Africa Regulators Forum evolving beyond local regulatory oversight to become a practical mechanism for facilitating cross-border energy security and trade.
As regulators, he said, they should work towards sharing information, aligning standards where appropriate, improving cross-border trade processes and developing interoperable market rules.
He identified five priorities for the region, namely deepening physical market liquidity, financing strategic infrastructure, accelerating regulatory and product-standard harmonization, institutionalising market transparency and building a complete trading ecosystem.
He said a mature market would require refiners, traders, terminal operators, ship owners, marketers, banks, insurers, commodity exchanges, data providers and regulators to operate within an environment of commercial trust.
Highlighting the impact of the transformation of the regional refining landscape, Umar said the emergence of major facilities such as the Dangote Refinery, was already reshaping West Africa’s petroleum supply chains.
He pointed out that the issue was no longer whether West Africa had the potential to become a petroleum pricing and trading centre, but whether players are ready to provide the necessary infrastructure, capital, data and regulatory cooperation needed to realise that ambition.
Umar used the occasion to reaffirm NMDPRA’s commitment to collaborate with regional partners, investors, operators, financial institutions and other market participants to establish a transparent, liquid and resilient African petroleum market.
