Market News

 By : Kingsley Jeremiah, Abuja 

• As ECOWAS initiates global fuel trading  

Nigeria has announced its intention to refine its crude oil locally, as part of wider efforts to stimulate double-digit economic growth and deepen regional energy integration.     

The move comes as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and S&P Global Commodity Insights formalised plans to establish a globally benchmarked trading hub for refined fuels across West Africa.   

Speaking yesterday in Abuja at the Refined Fuel Conference organised by the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Regulatory Commission (NMDPRA), Nigeria’s Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said the country aimed to become a refined fuels powerhouse and regional anchor.    “Our goal is to refine all the crude oil produced in Nigeria, and even support refining efforts in other African countries,” he stated.   

Although existing refineries, including Dangote Refinery are struggling to find crude oil and are even importing crude from countries like the U.S., Bagudu, who acknowledged collaboration with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) during budget planning, said ongoing investments in compressed natural gas (CNG), energy transition, and refining are being supported.    “We believe the refined fuels market holds significant potential. Our ambition is to achieve double-digit economic growth,” he said.    

At the conference, ECOWAS and S&P Global revealed a strategy to leverage an estimated two million metric tonnes of existing refined fuel trading activities in offshore Lome, Senegal, and Ghana to establish a West African benchmark pricing hub.

The Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, described the milestone as “a project years in the making” that would reposition Africa within global fuel trading markets.     “Africa is not currently on the list of global benchmark hubs. With S&P Global now on board, we are finally bringing that narrative home,” he said.    The Executive Director at NMDPRA, Prof Zainab Gobir, while discussing the roadmap needed to sustain the trading hub, said refinery capacity and supply stability, robust logistics, regulatory alignment, and harmonised market policies remained key.    

She identified key players, such as Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal, as central to building a viable trading corridor.    Gobir also called for urgent financing support from development banks and private investors to close infrastructure gaps. 

MEANWHILE, the House of Representatives, yesterday, held a valedictory session in honour of Buhari.   Members of the House took turns to eulogise the late President, with Speaker Abbas Tajudeen saying Buhari left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s legislative and democratic landscape.

The brief session was led by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who read the Speaker’s valedictory speech.    

Abbas said, among others: “We pause to honour the memory of a statesman, who left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s legislative and democratic landscape, President Muhammadu Buhari. His passing at the age of 82 marks the close of a significant chapter in our nation’s history.”