The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening its relationship with S&P Global, describing the company as a strategic partner in the country’s energy sector.
Lokpobiri spoke in Abuja during an engagement with officials of S&P Global Energy, where he welcomed the company’s decision to deepen its presence and engagement in Nigeria.
He said Nigeria valued its existing relationship with S&P Global and would ensure that the partnership was not taken for granted.
“S&P Global is very strategic to our energy sector. We have an existing relationship, and we are committed to ensuring that Nigeria does not take that relationship for granted,” the minister said.
According to him, Nigeria was fortunate to have a strong bilateral relationship with the global energy information and analytics company, adding that he had long wanted to see greater engagement between S&P Global and Nigerian stakeholders take place in Abuja.
“I have always wanted S&P Global to be here. I have been a visitor to Nigeria a couple of times, but I wanted to see this kind of engagement take place here,” Lokpobiri said.
He stressed that Nigeria would continue to position itself as an active participant in the global energy industry.
“This is very important work, and I want to say that Nigeria will not be left behind. In every ramification, we will make sure that we play our role in the global energy landscape,” he said.
The minister also welcomed the S&P Global delegation, noting that the last time he met some of its representatives was in Cape Town, South Africa.
“I am very happy that you and your colleagues from all over the world have decided to come to Abuja to be part of this occasion,” he said.
Executive Director, Strategy and Benchmarks, S&P Global Energy, Joel Hanley, said West Africa had the potential to develop into a major energy pricing hub, particularly following the emergence of the Dangote Refinery.
Hanley explained that S&P Global Platts assesses a range of refined petroleum products, including gasoline, gas oil and jet fuel, as well as crude oil grades produced across several African countries.
He said the company currently assesses about 30 different crude oil grades from countries including Nigeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Chad.
“My role is to make sure that people understand how we assess things, because people use our numbers in their contracts. And if you’re investing, if you’re invested in that number, you should understand how it works and how you can make the best of it,” Hanley said.
He argued that the growth of refining capacity in Nigeria was changing the structure of the West African petroleum market.
According to him, the Dangote Refinery has significantly altered regional trade flows, with increasing volumes of petroleum products being exported from Lekki and Lagos, alongside established activity in other West African ports such as Lomé.
Related Posts
Hanley said the development created an opportunity for regional price assessments to become more reflective of local market conditions rather than relying predominantly on European benchmarks.
“For many years we’ve seen the pricing linked. People have been pricing their cargoes coming into West Africa from European assessments and European benchmarks,” he said.
While describing European benchmarks as useful, he noted that they primarily reflect European market conditions.
He therefore suggested that greater emphasis on assessments covering markets in Lekki, Lagos and Lomé could help create benchmarks that better reflect West African supply and demand.
Hanley also discussed concerns within parts of the trading community about any possible return of fuel subsidy.
He said participants at an S&P Global event in Lagos had expressed opposition to a return to subsidy, arguing that subsidies could complicate the operation of free markets and affect traders and marketers seeking to develop West Africa as a major trading and pricing hub.
Matthew Tracy Cook, Senior Reporter, West Africa Refined Products at S&P Global, said the development of domestic refining capacity represented a major change in the structure of the regional petroleum market.
Cook said West Africa had for decades depended heavily on international benchmarks and imported supplies for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
On Nigeria’s petrol pump prices following the removal of fuel subsidy, Cook said the international nature of the oil market meant that domestic prices were ultimately exposed to global supply and demand conditions.
He explained that subsidy removal had moved Nigerian petroleum pricing away from a level that had been suppressed for many years towards pricing that more closely reflected global market conditions.
“The removal of the subsidy in Nigeria has meant that Nigerian pricing has gone from a level that’s been suppressed for many years to a level that’s now reflective of global supply and demand dynamics,” he said.
Cook, however, said he was not commenting on whether the change was positive or negative.
Rather, he said market-based pricing could allow regional benchmarks to reflect actual supply and demand, with buyers and sellers determining the economic value of petroleum products.
He said this was essential to the development of transparent and functional petroleum markets in Nigeria and across West Africa.
The engagement in Abuja comes as Nigeria seeks to deepen its role in regional petroleum-product trading, strengthen market transparency and maximise the opportunities created by expanding domestic refining capacity.
