Nigeria Spearheads West African Regional Fuel Pricing Initiative
Nigeria has partnered with S&P Global Commodity Insights to establish West Africa’s first regional pricing benchmark for refined petroleum products, addressing long-standing reliance on global reference markets that often fail to reflect regional supply chain dynamics.
The initiative, unveiled at the West African Refined Fuel Conference in Abuja, will create localized pricing indices for petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas. According to Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the partnership aims to improve pricing transparency, attract investment, and enhance regional energy security.
Nigeria currently supplies approximately 31% of refined fuels traded in West Africa, a figure expected to rise as new refining projects come online. The country’s downstream petroleum sector is undergoing significant reforms, positioning Nigeria as a regional trading hub supported by infrastructure developments including the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
The Dangote facility, operational since 2024 with 650,000 barrels per day processing capacity, is being upgraded to reach 700,000 bpd by end-2025. The initiative reflects broader African efforts toward greater economic self-determination, paralleling the African Union’s plans to launch a continental credit rating agency in 2026.
Source: angolanminingoilandgas.com
