The 650,000-barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery is driving efforts by West African energy regulators to establish a regional fuel pricing benchmark and trading hub, as the region seeks greater influence over petroleum-product price discovery.
Rabiu Umar, chief executive of Nigeria’s Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, said the refinery’s start-up in 2024 had reshaped regional fuel supply chains and strengthened the case for a West African pricing and trading ecosystem independent of foreign benchmarks.
Speaking at a regional refined fuel market conference, Umar said Africa needed to move beyond its role as a price-taker in global petroleum markets.
“Africa must progress from being principally a price-taker in global petroleum markets to becoming an increasingly credible centre of price discovery, trading, investment and value creation,” he said.
West African regulators have made progress towards establishing a regional refined-products benchmark market, including closer collaboration with S&P Global Commodity Insights.
