The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has urged Nigeria to sustain the progress recorded in the oil and gas sector, stressing the need for increased investments to expand refining capacity and strengthen petroleum infrastructure.
Lokpobiri made the call in his goodwill message at the West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference, organised by the Authority in collaboration with S&P Global and the West African Regulators Forum at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
He described the conference as a turning point in Africa’s pursuit of energy sovereignty, saying Nigeria could not afford to reverse the gains already made in the petroleum sector.
The Minister emphasised the need to maintain the momentum by attracting investments required to expand refining capacity, develop critical petroleum infrastructure, strengthen distribution networks and build a more competitive and resilient regional energy market.
Speaking at the opening session, the Authority Chief Executive, Mallam Rabiu A. Umar, said the conference provided an important platform to assess progress made since the inaugural edition in 2025, tackle outstanding challenges and identify the investments and actions required to position West Africa as a credible petroleum pricing and trading hub.
The conference is themed, “Funding West Africa Infrastructure & Distribution to Create a Transparent Market for Regional Price Benchmarks.”
Umar said the priority this year was to move from laying the foundations to execution, with emphasis on funding infrastructure and distribution, deepening market transparency, improving operational performance and creating the physical and commercial conditions necessary for credible regional price benchmarks.
He also highlighted the critical role of the West Africa Regulators Forum in advancing regional energy security, urging regulators to move beyond localised oversight and actively facilitate cross-border energy cooperation.
According to him, this required regulatory convergence, information sharing, aligned standards, interoperable market rules, improved cross-border trade processes and a regulatory framework capable of supporting a deeper and more integrated regional petroleum market.
Also speaking, the Executive Director, Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning, Prof. Zainab Gobir, said the true measure of the Forum’s success would be the progress achieved after the conference through stronger collaboration, improved communication and tangible action on shared priorities.
Gobir urged member institutions to focus on implementation by clearly identifying responsibilities, focal points and the support required to translate recommendations into coordinated action.
The conference is expected to conclude on Wednesday with further discussions aimed at consolidating the gains of the opening day and setting a template for deeper regional integration through product refining, market alignment and petroleum price benchmarking.
