The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has called for collaborative efforts to provide a fuel refining hub for Africa, saying the task should not be left to a single country.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, made the call on Tuesday at the Global Commodity Insights Conference on West African Refined Fuel Market in Abuja.
While delivering a special address at the conference, Ojulari said the theme of the event, ‘Building An African Fuel Refining Hub’, was timely, as it reflected the current convergence in the global energy landscape.
He urged stakeholders to embrace collaboration rather than exclusion.
“I encourage us to choose collaboration over exclusion. According to EAI, global energy demand will rise by over 25 per cent by 2040, with Africa contributing significantly to both demand and energy usage.
“Today, Africa exports the bulk of its crude oil but imports refined products at a significant premium. These structural asymmetric deplete value, suppress industrialisation, heighten supply vulnerability and compromise energy sovereignty.
“Vision of an African refining hub is therefore not an aspiration, it is essential. But vision without execution is hallucination. We must confront structural bottlenecks, including underinvestment in refining mainstream infrastructure, fragmented and often contradictory regulatory frameworks, value inconsistency that stalls investments, skills gap and limited local development.
“Still, these challenges are not insurmountable. They are catalytic opportunities if met with coordinated actions, bold investments and resolute leadership.
“At NNPC, we are not waiting for the future. We are building it through the strategic review and repositioning of our refineries, our strategic equity in the Dangote Refinery, condensate opportunities, and other third-party projects. We are laying the foundation for a sufficient refining ecosystem that can anchor a continental hub.
“But, we also recognise this truth- no single country can build a refining hub for Africa. Success demands a continental strategy driven by shared markets, integrated infrastructure and harmonised policies,” he said.
An earlier statement by the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA), said the two-day conference is designed to provide a foundational platform for exploring the potential development of the West African reference market for refined fuels, focusing on regional standardisation, pricing mechanisms, data transparency, stakeholder collaboration, market fundamentals and participation, expansion of in-country refining capacity and infrastructure development.
A major focus will be placed on developing frameworks for data transparency, standardisation, and cross-border collaboration for building a robust and reliable pricing reference mechanism in West Africa.
It is expected to bring together key stakeholders from across the energy value chain, including regulators, ministries of petroleum/energy across Africa, regional organisations, national and international oil companies and private refiners.
Other stakeholders expected at the event are depot and terminal operators, African oil and gas associations, financial institutions, multilateral organisations, Oil & Gas traders, marketing companies, ship owners and marine service providers.
