The Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Ikenga Ugochinyere, has pledged the National Assembly’s backing for efforts to establish a transparent benchmark for refined petroleum prices across West Africa.
Ugochinyere made the commitment on Tuesday in Abuja at the West Africa Refined Fuel Market 2026 Conference organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
He said the region’s growing importance as a refining centre made it necessary for West African countries to develop a reliable pricing system for refined petroleum products.
According to him, West Africa has for decades remained a “price taker”, despite being one of the world’s major consumers of refined petroleum products.
Ugochinyere said the National Assembly would collaborate with the NMDPRA and the West Africa Regulator Forum to provide the necessary legal backing for the proposed pricing framework.
He stressed that a benchmark without enforceable regulations would remain weak and unreliable.
The lawmaker noted that the commissioning of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, ongoing rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, as well as reforms introduced through the Petroleum Industry Act, had significantly altered the region’s petroleum market.
He argued that countries capable of refining petroleum products should also have the capacity to determine their prices.
Ugochinyere identified liquidity, product deliverability, data reliability and market confidence as essential elements for creating a credible regional pricing benchmark.
He also highlighted the need for investment in storage facilities, jetties, pipelines, depots, metering systems, as well as road and rail infrastructure to support effective price discovery.
The lawmaker said an independent West African benchmark would enable the region to move away from relying on external markets to determine its petroleum prices.
The initiative, being driven by the NMDPRA, seeks to develop a locally determined pricing system that could reduce reliance on existing fuel pricing indices from Western Europe and the Mediterranean.
Nigeria is currently leading efforts to establish the independent benchmark for refined petroleum products in the West African market.