The Federal Government has endorsed plans to establish a West Africa petrol pricing benchmark, saying the initiative could strengthen regional energy security and transform petroleum trade across the sub-region. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed this at the 2026 West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference in Abuja.
The conference brought together regulators, refiners, traders, investors and other stakeholders to discuss the development of a regional petroleum pricing and trading hub. Lokpobiri said Nigeria’s deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector was intended to attract investment and allow market forces to influence fuel prices.
He added that Nigeria’s expanding refining capacity and strategic position gave the country an opportunity to support a more integrated West African petroleum market. However, the minister stressed that Nigeria could not achieve the objective without cooperation from other countries in the region.
“If we are successful in Nigeria, we haven’t achieved our objective. We want Ghana to succeed,” he said.
According to Lokpobiri, a regional market would allow West African countries to maximise their individual strengths while attracting investment and reducing dependence on pricing structures determined outside Africa.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Rabiu Umar, said the initiative had moved beyond planning and was entering its implementation phase.
Umar said the inaugural conference in 2025 established the foundation for a West African refined-products reference market. The framework focused on refining, logistics, storage, infrastructure, market information, regulatory cooperation and access to capital.
He said progress had since been made through the West Africa Regulators Forum and collaboration with S&P Global Commodity Insights. However, Umar cautioned that establishing a benchmark alone would not automatically create a functioning market.
“A reference price is not by itself a trading hub. A conference is not a market,” he said.
He explained that credible price discovery would require physical infrastructure, sufficient trading activity, reliable market information and efficient operations. According to him, the region needs refineries, pipelines, storage terminals, ports, roads, rail networks, marine logistics, strategic reserves and digital trading platforms.
Umar described the infrastructure gap as a major investment opportunity, particularly in pipelines, storage, marine terminals, refinery expansion, transportation, gas infrastructure and digital commodity trading. He said investors would require predictable regulations and commercially viable projects before committing capital.
“For investors, predictability matters. For operators, efficiency matters. For consumers, affordability and reliability matter. For regulators, safety, integrity, competition and compliance matter,” he said.
He identified five priorities for the next stage: increasing physical market liquidity, financing strategic infrastructure, harmonising regulations and product standards, improving market transparency and building a complete trading ecosystem.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said West Africa had significant energy resources and demand but remained constrained by fragmented markets and inadequate infrastructure. She said Nigeria’s growing refining capacity and reduced dependence on imported petrol created an opportunity for the country to anchor a more integrated regional petroleum market.
“Refining capacity alone, as big as ours is, does not create energy security,” Verheijen said.
She noted that refined petroleum products must also be financed, stored, transported and distributed efficiently to achieve their economic potential. Verheijen therefore called for greater investment in pipelines, ports, storage facilities, coastal vessels, trucking networks and trading platforms.
She also advocated common product standards and stronger cooperation among regional regulators. According to her, petroleum products refined within West Africa should increasingly be traded and priced within the region rather than leaving the continent before their value is determined.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said developments across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry presented an opportunity to complete the integration of West Africa’s petroleum market.
She cited increased refining capacity, improved gas supply and higher crude oil production as developments that could support the initiative. Eyesan urged West African countries to abandon isolated national approaches to petroleum markets.
“The West African market must be integrated. We can no longer afford to operate in silos,” she said.
She called for regulatory systems and infrastructure capable of connecting producers, refiners, traders and consumers across the sub-region.
Vera Blei, Head of Platts at S&P Global Energy, said the company had expanded its refined-product price assessments in the region amid increased market volatility. She said additional data and reporting mechanisms were being developed to improve transparency and support regional price discovery. Blei disclosed that the emerging benchmark would include the naira and other local currencies used across West Africa.
She also noted that S&P Global had established an office in Abuja to support its regional operations. However, she stressed that regulators and price-reporting organisations could only provide the foundation for the benchmark.
According to Blei, refiners, traders and other market participants must actively transact against the emerging reference prices for the benchmark to gain credibility and liquidity. The development of a West Africa petrol pricing benchmark therefore depends not only on policy support but also on infrastructure, regulation, investment and sustained participation from actual market operators.
