Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
WEST Africa is shifting decisively from aspiration to execution in its quest to create a homegrown refined petroleum market, with leaders at the second West African Refined Fuel (WARF) Conference in Abuja urging financing, infrastructure development and regulatory harmonisation to establish credible regional price benchmarks.
Opening the two-day gathering, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, declared that the 2026 conference—themed “Funding West Africa Infrastructure and Distribution to create a transparent market for regional price benchmarks”—must deliver what the inaugural 2025 meeting only mapped out.
Mr Umar recalled that last year’s conference agreed Africa could no longer remain primarily a hydrocarbon producer while pricing, trading intelligence and commercial value were determined elsewhere. That meeting produced a roadmap requiring reliable refinery financing, stronger logistics and storage, interconnected ports, roads, rail and pipelines, harmonised product standards, transparent data, cross-border cooperation and capital mobilisation.
One year on, he said progress includes the institutionalisation of the West Africa Regulators Forum for regional regulatory cooperation, progress toward West African reference pricing, and deeper collaboration with S&P Global Commodity Insights to bring market reporting closer to regional transactions.
However, Mr Umar stressed these were foundations, not the finished structure. “A reference price is not by itself a trading partner. A conference is not a market,” he cautioned.
He argued that Africa already possesses resources, demand and expanding refining capacity, including the operationalisation of “monumental domestic capacities like the Dangote Refinery,” which have reshaped supply chains. What remains missing, he said, is the infrastructure that efficiently connects them: refineries, pipelines, storage, terminals, jetties, ports, rail, roads, marine logistics, strategic reserves and digital trading platforms.
The goal, he explained, is infrastructure that reduces energy costs, improves security, increases inventory visibility and creates the physical liquidity needed for transparent pricing.
Mr Umar called for regional thinking to avoid duplication, noting: “Not every country needs to replicate every asset,” and cited Europe as a model where countries specialise. He also flagged a major barrier: differing product specifications between neighbouring countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and others, which makes cross-border trade expensive and difficult.
Addressing the investment community, he said Africa’s infrastructure deficit represents an opportunity across pipelines, product transport, storage, marine terminals, refinery expansion, road and rail logistics, gas processing, LNG and LPG infrastructure, digital exchanges, product tracking and integrated corridors.
“Capitals go where projects are anchored, risks are understood, regulation is predictable, and returns can be sustained,” he said, adding that governments and regulators must ensure predictability for investors, efficiency for operators, affordability and reliability for consumers, and safety and compliance for regulators.
Looking beyond 2026, he outlined five imperatives: deepen physical market mobility and expand refining capacity so Africa is shielded from price shocks in Europe or the Mediterranean; finance strategic infrastructure to cut the cost of moving goods within the region; accelerate regulatory and product standard harmonisation; institutionalise reliable data and market transparency with credible reporting; and build a complete trading ecosystem of refiners, traders, terminal operators, ship owners, marketers, banks, insurers, exchanges, data providers and regulators.
“Africa must progress from being principally a price taker in global petroleum product markets to becoming an increasingly credible centre of price discovery, trading investment, and value creation,” Mr Umar declared.
He closed by reaffirming NMDPRA’s commitment to work with regional partners to build “not simply an African reference market, but the transparent, deliberate, and resilient African market that gives that reference price credibility.”
Platts Chief Stresses Execution Over Ambition
Vera Blei, Head of Price Reporting Business at Platts, S&P Global Energy, echoed the “foundation to execution” message, stating that Platts values its relationship in Nigeria and across West Africa as a trusted provider of transparent, robust benchmark prices.
Ms Blei highlighted achievements since 2025, including inter-day regional gasoline, jet and refined product price updates to address volatility; STS-Nomic assessments in diesel and jet fuel priced in Naira per litre based on domestic fundamentals; a new data and communication window for West Africa to increase transparency; and a white paper with NMDPRA last year outlining pillars for a West African pricing hub.
She warned, however, that while Platts can provide reference prices, “it is down to everybody in this room to take bold steps to really bring them alive.” She also stressed that product specifications attached to assessments matter, especially amid unprecedented disruption this year.
Citing the impact of the war in the Middle East since March, changing trade flows, expanded margins, diesel shortages and unprecedented price volatility, she argued that regional benchmarks are now urgent.
Ms Blei congratulated the West African Regulators Forum for bringing regulators together and NMDPRA for publishing monthly oil and gas market fact sheets and its first half industry report.
Lawmaker Declares Era of Imported Price Signals Over
The Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Rt. Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, declared that West Africa can only achieve a credible regional fuel price benchmark if it funds the infrastructure to back it.
Mr Ugochinyere said the forum’s theme marks a shift “from aspiration to construction,” noting that West Africa has for 50 years imported both products and price signals set in distant markets. With the 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery operational, plus ongoing rehabilitation of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the region is “becoming a source” of refined products and must therefore set its own benchmark.
He listed four foundations—liquidity, deliverability, data integrity and trust—and stressed that storage tanks, jetties, pipelines, depots, metering and automation are not secondary to transparency but are the transparency agenda itself. “No tankage, no delivery point. No delivery point, no benchmark,” he asserted.
Addressing investors, he noted that capital in West Africa is “cautious” and asks three questions: Is the rule stable? Is the price discoverable? Can I exit? Regulators and lawmakers, he said, must answer all three in writing and keep their word.
He also announced the Committee’s second Downstream Week, scheduled for October 5–7, 2026 at the National Assembly in Abuja, themed “Confronting Nigeria’s Downstream Challenges: Strengthening Local Refining, Addressing Import Dependence, Securing Pipelines and Guaranteeing Feedstock.”
Mr Ugochinyere closed by declaring that the current generation’s task is to build “a market that can see itself clearly, price itself honestly and finance itself independently”—a decision for the region “to stop being described by others and to begin describing itself.”
All speakers agreed the question is no longer whether West Africa has the potential to become a petroleum pricing and trading centre. The resources, demand and refining landscape exist. The test now is execution: building infrastructure, mobilising capital, improving operations, sharing data and deepening collaboration.
The conference, organised by NMDPRA, also drew the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), members of the West Africa Regulator Forum, S&P Global Commodity Insights and industry leaders.
Discussions are expected to produce concrete investment conversations and actionable outcomes for the regional market.
