The Federal Government has said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery alone cannot meet Africa’s growing refined petroleum products needs, urging local and international investors to pour more capital into Nigeria’s refining, midstream and downstream sectors.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, said Nigeria must build on the success of the Dangote refinery and attract additional investments if it wants to move beyond supplying the West African market and become a major refined petroleum products hub for the entire continent.

Lokpobiri spoke on Tuesday at the second West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference in Abuja, where regulators, refiners, traders, financiers and other energy industry stakeholders gathered to advance plans for a transparent regional pricing system for refined petroleum products.

The conference was jointly hosted by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, S&P Global Commodity Insights and the West Africa Regulators Forum. It was themed, “Funding West Africa Infrastructure & Distribution to Create a Transparent Market for Regional Price Benchmarks.”

The minister described the conference as a turning point in Africa’s pursuit of greater energy sovereignty, saying Nigeria must now build on the progress recorded in its refining and midstream sectors.

He said the Dangote refinery had demonstrated what could be achieved through private-sector investment but stressed that its growing capacity, even if expanded to 1.4 million barrels per day, would still not be sufficient to meet the needs of the African continent.

“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 called on investors with capital to seize the opportunity presented by Nigeria’s expanding energy market, saying the country was strategically positioned to serve both regional and international markets.

He said Nigeria’s location also offered an advantage because the country was not directly dependent on the Strait of Hormuz for its crude and petroleum product supply routes. The minister added, “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 Nigeria must move beyond the traditional model of exporting raw commodities and importing processed products, arguing that the country’s growing refining capacity provided an opportunity to change the pattern.

Lokpobiri urged stakeholders to replicate the success recorded by the Dangote refinery by attracting more investment into domestic processing. He said Nigeria should not be content with capturing the West African market but should position itself to supply the wider African market.

“If you do not refine your products before it’s finished, our function will not change. That has been the biggest problem in Nigeria. Not just in the petroleum sector, even in the agriculture sector. Our ministers have said that because we export our raw cashew, we import our raw agro-products outside. They refine them, or they process them, and we buy them back, take them to the bank.

“But in this particular case, the time has come for us to follow the results we have seen from the Dangote refinery and other gains that we have seen from the midstream. The results we have seen from the refinery that we have achieved from the ministry. So that we don’t just capture the West African market, we capture the entire African market.

“Africa has a huge market, and I believe that the time has come for Nigeria as the leader of the oil and gas industry in Africa to be a true leader.”

He said the ambition could only be achieved if Nigeria developed a sustainable pricing mechanism that would encourage investment while ensuring that market forces continued to determine petroleum product prices.

“And all this will be realised unless we have a sustainable pricing mechanism. And that is why this conference is important,” the minister said.

The minister said the government would continue to encourage private capital into refining, transportation, storage and other midstream and downstream infrastructure required to establish Nigeria as a regional energy hub.

He said the Dangote refinery’s experience had already demonstrated the commercial potential of Nigeria’s petroleum market.

Lokpobiri recalled that European demand for Dangote refinery’s jet fuel had affected local market conditions, saying the development demonstrated the need to deepen domestic refining capacity and develop pricing structures that could respond appropriately to market forces.

“The Dangote refinery is not enough, and we saw it when European countries were demanding Dangote jet fuel. Certainly, our price for jet fuel went up, and we were compelled to see how we can negotiate an affordable, good price,” he said.

The minister assured stakeholders that the Federal Government would continue to support the development of a regional petroleum market and the institutions required to make it work.

He said the objective was not merely to increase Nigeria’s refining output but to develop the infrastructure, regulatory framework and pricing system required to turn the country into a major African energy hub.

“I would say, and let me conclude by saying, that the Federal Government of Nigeria is fully committed to supporting this initiative, supporting West Africa, to do its job for the benefit of Nigeria, for the benefit of the entire continent.”

Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said West Africa was not short of energy resources or demand but was constrained by fragmented markets and inadequate infrastructure.

She said Nigeria’s growing refining capacity and declining dependence on imported petrol had created an opportunity for the country to serve as an anchor for a more integrated regional petroleum market. “Refining capacity alone, as big as ours is, does not create energy security,” she said.

Verheijen said refined products must be financed, stored, transported and distributed efficiently before they could deliver their full economic value. She called for investment in pipelines, ports, storage facilities, coastal vessels, trucking networks and trading platforms, as well as common product standards and stronger cooperation among regional regulators.

On her part, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said developments across Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain had created an opportunity to complete the integration of West Africa’s petroleum market.

She cited rising refining capacity, improved gas supply and increased crude oil production as major developments that could support the regional initiative. Eyesan said West African countries must move away from operating in isolated national markets.

“The West African market must be integrated. We can no longer afford to operate in silos,” she said.

She called for integrated regulatory systems and infrastructure capable of connecting producers, refiners, traders and consumers across the sub-region.