By Obiabin Onukwugha
The second edition of the West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference has concluded in Abuja, with stakeholders calling for stronger financing, regulatory convergence and greater synergy to accelerate the development of an integrated West African Petroleum Price Referencing market
The 2-day conference organized by the Nigeria Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA in collaboration with S&P Global Commodity Insights and the West African Regulators Forum, brought together, key government officials, regulators, industry leaders, investors and market experts.
The event also featured panel discussions focused on financing strategic infrastructure, regulatory convergence and strengthening collaboration among regulators and industry stakeholders.
Participants emphasised the need for bankable infrastructure projects, predictable regulatory frameworks and stronger regional cooperation to facilitate cross-border petroleum trade.
In his closing remarks on Wednesday, the Authority Chief Executive, Mallam Rabiu Umar, reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to working with regional partners and stakeholders to build a transparent, liquid and resilient West African petroleum market.
Mallam Umar stressed that the region’s ambition to become a credible centre for petroleum price recovery and trading would require sustained investment, cross border regulatory cooperation, operational resilience and above all, wholesome execution of strategic plans to achieve agreed objectives.
