Nigeria targets regional fuel hub as Tinubu pushes integrated West African energy market

By Beifoh Osewele

The Federal Government has said Nigeria is positioning itself as the anchor of a more integrated West African refined petroleum products market, with increased domestic refining capacity expected to drive cross-border trade and strengthen regional energy security.

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Oil and Gas, Olu Verheijen, disclosed this yesterday at the Second West African Refined Fuel Market Conference, where she said Nigeria’s growing refining capacity must now be matched with infrastructure, financing, transparent pricing and regulatory coordination across the region.

Verheijen, who represented President Tinubu at the conference, said West Africa’s energy challenge had moved beyond the availability of crude oil and refining capacity to the ability to efficiently move, finance, store and trade refined products.

She said Nigeria now refines the majority of the petrol consumed domestically, while imports had fallen significantly and Nigerian refined products were increasingly reaching markets across Africa and beyond.

According to her, the development creates a new responsibility for Nigeria to build the infrastructure and market systems required to turn its refining capacity into a platform for regional energy security.

“Refining capacity alone does not create energy security. A refined product only delivers economic value when it can be financed, stored, transported and distributed reliably,” she said.

She identified pipelines, ports, storage facilities, coastal vessels, trucking networks and trading platforms as critical infrastructure required to support the movement of refined products across West Africa.

She also called for greater access to trade and infrastructure finance, common product standards and stronger cooperation among regulators, customs authorities and market participants.

Verheijen said the Federal Government’s ambition was for Nigeria to become a dependable anchor for a deeper and more competitive West African energy market, rather than allowing the country’s growing refining capacity to operate in isolation.

“West Africa is not short of demand. We are not short of resources. What has constrained us is the fragmentation of our markets and the absence of sufficient infrastructure to connect supply, demand and capital across the region,” she said.

She said transparent pricing would be central to the development of an integrated regional market, stressing that a credible benchmark for refined products must be based on actual transactions, reliable data, adequate market liquidity and confidence in the institutions supporting the market.

“Our ambition should be that a product refined in West Africa should not have to leave West Africa before the market can credibly determine its value,” she said.

Verheijen said the Tinubu administration had undertaken reforms aimed at creating a more competitive energy market, improving the investment environment and repositioning the petroleum sector as an engine of economic growth.

She, however, said increased refining capacity would have limited impact without corresponding investment in the infrastructure needed to distribute products.

The presidential aide called on financial institutions to develop funding structures capable of supporting long-term energy infrastructure projects, while urging industry players to invest and provide reliable transaction data needed to strengthen regional price benchmarks.

She also called on governments to establish predictable policies and remove barriers to cross-border petroleum trade.

Regulators, she said, must protect the public interest while creating an environment that supports investment, innovation and competition.

Verheijen commended the emerging leadership at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), saying the regulator’s increasing emphasis on transparency, collaboration and commercial pragmatism would be important in building investor confidence.

She said effective regulation should be measured by the clarity and consistency of rules, the quality and speed of regulatory decisions, and the confidence those decisions inspire among investors and citizens.

“Investor confidence is not built by lowering standards. It is built by establishing clear standards, enforcing them fairly and ensuring that credible investors can make long-term decisions with certainty,” she said.

Verheijen also pointed to developments emerging from previous editions of the conference, including the establishment of the West Africa Regulator Forum, the opening of an Abuja office by S&P Global Commodity Insights and the introduction by Platts of naira-denominated assessments for refined products produced in West Africa.

She said the next phase must move beyond individual initiatives towards deeper market liquidity, connected regional infrastructure corridors and sustained cooperation among regulatory institutions.

The Federal Government, she said, would continue to support initiatives capable of strengthening Nigeria’s role in regional energy integration.

Ultimately, Verheijen said, the success of the reforms would be measured not merely by the volume of petroleum products traded but by their impact on businesses, investment, employment and household access to affordable and reliable energy.

“Ultimately, the success of these efforts will not be measured only by the volume of products traded or the sophistication of our price benchmarks. It will be measured by whether our industries become more competitive; whether businesses can access reliable energy; whether new investments and jobs are created; and whether families across West Africa can obtain the energy they need at more affordable and predictable prices,” she said.