The Federal Government has called for a fresh wave of investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain, declaring that the Dangote Refinery, despite its expanding capacity, cannot single-handedly satisfy Africa’s growing demand for refined petroleum products.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, said Nigeria must use the success of the Dangote Refinery as a springboard to attract more investors into the refining, midstream and downstream segments of the petroleum industry.
Lokpobiri made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at the second West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference, attended by regulators, refiners, commodity traders, financiers and other stakeholders in the energy sector.
The conference, jointly organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, S&P Global Commodity Insights and the West Africa Regulators Forum, focused on developing a more transparent regional market for refined petroleum products.
With the theme, “Funding West Africa Infrastructure & Distribution to Create a Transparent Market for Regional Price Benchmarks,” the gathering examined ways of financing infrastructure and improving petroleum product distribution across the sub-region.
Lokpobiri described the conference as an important step towards strengthening Africa’s energy independence, arguing that Nigeria now has an opportunity to build on the transformation taking place in its refining sector.
While acknowledging the landmark investment represented by the Dangote Refinery, the minister stressed that Africa’s energy requirements were simply too large for one facility to handle.
“The Dangote Refinery is not enough. Despite the fact that the refinery is increasing its refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels. But it is not enough for the African continent.
“It’s the final capacity to open for middle buyers to be able to sell this entire African continent on top of the entire world,” Lokpobiri said.
The minister’s argument was that Nigeria must move from celebrating a single major refinery investment to creating an environment capable of attracting several more projects across the petroleum value chain.
According to him, Nigeria’s expanding energy market offers enormous opportunities for investors willing to commit capital to the country’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Lokpobiri urged investors to look beyond crude oil production and consider opportunities across the entire petroleum value chain.
He said Nigeria’s strategic geographical position, coupled with its expanding refining capacity and access to crude resources, makes it well placed to become a major petroleum products hub.
“It’s the best time for us to attract as many investors as we can. Not just into the upstream, but into the midstream, and then the downstream,” he said.
The minister also pointed to Nigeria’s geographical advantage, noting that the country does not directly depend on the Strait of Hormuz for its crude and petroleum product supply routes.
For the minister, this presents an opportunity for Nigeria to strengthen its position in global and regional energy trade while reducing vulnerabilities associated with international supply disruptions.
Lokpobiri said Nigeria must break away from the longstanding economic pattern of exporting raw commodities only to import processed products at higher costs.
He argued that the emergence of large-scale refining capacity in the country creates an opportunity to reverse that trend by processing more crude domestically and exporting refined products to other markets.
The minister urged stakeholders to replicate the investment model demonstrated by the Dangote Refinery, insisting that Nigeria’s ambition should extend beyond dominating the West African market.
According to him, the ultimate objective should be to position Nigeria as a major supplier of refined petroleum products across the African continent.
He also recalled how rising European demand for aviation fuel produced by the Dangote Refinery had influenced local market conditions, describing the development as evidence of the increasingly interconnected nature of the global petroleum market.
The development, he suggested, reinforces the need for Nigeria to deepen its domestic refining capacity while developing market and pricing structures capable of responding effectively to changing demand and supply patterns.
The minister assured industry stakeholders that the Federal Government would continue supporting efforts to establish a functional regional petroleum market.
He said Nigeria’s ambition extends beyond simply producing more refined petroleum products, noting that the country also needs efficient infrastructure, appropriate regulations and transparent pricing mechanisms to fully unlock its potential.
The government, he maintained, wants Nigeria to emerge as a major African energy hub capable of supplying refined products to neighbouring countries and markets beyond West Africa.
Also speaking at the conference, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said West Africa’s problem was not a shortage of energy resources or market demand.
Rather, she identified fragmented markets and inadequate infrastructure as major obstacles to the efficient movement and distribution of energy across the region.
Verheijen said Nigeria’s rapidly developing refining capacity, coupled with its declining reliance on imported petrol, had created a unique opportunity for the country to become the anchor of a more integrated West African petroleum market.
The Federal Government’s renewed call for investment therefore signals an attempt to move Nigeria’s petroleum industry into a new phase—one where increased domestic refining is matched by stronger infrastructure, deeper private-sector participation, transparent pricing and a broader regional export strategy.
(Ripples)