West African midstream and downstream regulators have announced plans to establish a new forum aimed at harmonising fuel prices and enhancing petroleum product trade across the region.

This initiative was a major outcome of the inaugural West African Refined Fuel Market Conference, held recently in Abuja and jointly organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The conference, themed “West Africa Refined Fuel Market: Pathway to a Regional Reference Market,” centered on developing petroleum products and natural gas trading hubs in Nigeria, standardising pricing and quality to reflect West African market fundamentals, boosting market and data transparency, and accelerating downstream investments through trade zones and digital market platforms.

A communiqué released yesterday by NMDPRA’s Public Affairs Department stated that a West African Regulators Forum and a Technical Working Group will be established to ensure effective coordination of the conference outcomes and implementation of follow-up actions.

The communiqué stated that the NMDPRA, in partnership with the African Refiners and Distributors Association, will oversee the Forum’s activities.

It added that the Forum will ensure strategic partners adhere to the roadmap’s timelines and address key challenges in intra-African trade, including infrastructure gaps, tariff barriers, exchange rate bottlenecks, and inconsistencies in product specifications.

The summary of additional key outcomes produced by various stakeholders and participants at the conference include “the provision of incentives for expansion of refining capacity and support for domestic refiners through adequate feedstock supply; the establishment of independent and transparent price assessments for the region, leveraging expert market insights; the development of a harmonised pricing framework and product quality standards by the relevant government bodies; the development of a roadmap in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders to ensure implementation and performance monitoring of the conference outcomes; and the constitution of the West African Regulators Forum and Technical Working Group, to ensure effective coordination of the conference outcomes and follow-up actions.”

Other significant outcomes of the conference included plans to provide incentives for expanding refining capacity, establish independent and transparent regional price assessments, develop innovative funding schemes by African financial institutions for regional infrastructure, and create a harmonised framework for pricing and product quality standards.

The communiqué further noted that stakeholders agreed to establish petroleum product and natural gas trading hubs in Nigeria and to hold an annual West African Refined Fuel Market Conference.

“We are encouraged at the successes of this inaugural event and look forward not only to pursuing its long-term goals but also to welcoming participation of others that share in the future of Africa and the development of its markets,” said the NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed.

Both NMDPRA and Platts expressed their commitment to the long-term sustainability and growth of regional petroleum product reference prices and market development across Africa.