The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, has said crises in Western Europe and the Mediterranean should not automatically determine petroleum product prices in Nigeria and other African countries, arguing that West Africa needs a regional benchmark that reflects its own market realities.
It said West Africa could no longer afford a situation where disruptions in Western Europe or the Mediterranean automatically influence the prices of petroleum products in African markets, even when the factors behind those disruptions have little or nothing to do with the region.
The Authority Chief Executive, Rabiu Umar, said this on Tuesday at the second West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference in Abuja, where regulators, refiners, traders, financiers and other industry stakeholders renewed efforts to establish a transparent regional pricing system for refined petroleum products.
The conference is jointly hosted by the Authority, S&P Global Commodity Insights and West Africa Regulator Forum, with the theme: “Funding West Africa Infrastructure & Distribution to Create a Transparent Market for Regional Price Benchmarks.”
The conference is aimed at moving the region from discussions about price discovery to the actual development of a functioning petroleum trading and pricing hub.
