West Africa seeks regional petroleum price benchmark

West African regulators and policymakers are pushing to establish a regional petroleum price benchmark to reduce dependence on external market signals from Europe and the Mediterranean. At the second West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference in Abuja, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) argued that regional pricing should reflect local supply, demand, and refining realities rather than foreign crises.

This shift is supported by increasing local refining capacity, most notably the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery. The refinery's output has contributed to a decline in West Africa’s clean petroleum product imports, which fell by approximately 23% between April and May. Officials stated that a credible regional benchmark, supported by actual transactions and market liquidity, would allow West Africa to function as a self-sustaining fuel trading hub.