West African energy regulators are stepping up plans for a regional fuel pricing benchmark and ​trading hub, betting that a wave of new refining ‌capacity led by Nigeria's Dangote refinery can give Africa a greater role in fuel price discovery and trade, Nigeria's regulator said on Tuesday.

• Speaking ​at the regional refined fuel market conference, Rabiu Umar, ​chief executive of Nigeria's Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory ⁠Authority, said the start-up of the 650,000 bpd Dangote ​refinery in 2024 was reshaping regional fuel supply chains and strengthening ​the case for a West African pricing and trading ecosystem independent of foreign benchmarks.
• "Africa must progress from being principally a price-taker in global petroleum ​markets to becoming an increasingly credible centre of price ​discovery, trading, investment and value creation," he said.
• The regulator said West Africa had ‌made ⁠progress towards establishing a regional refined-products benchmark market, citing closer collaboration with S&P Global Commodity Insights.
• Umar said efforts to align regional fuel pricing and regulation had gained ground over the ​past year, but ​warned that ⁠inadequate infrastructure, weak logistics and limited market transparency still stood in the way of a credible ​hub.
• The regulator said a regional trading hub ​would require ⁠investments in pipelines, storage, marine logistics and digital trading systems to improve fuel flows and market liquidity.
• Regulators urged West African countries ⁠to ​harmonise fuel standards, licensing and trade ​rules, warning that regulatory fragmentation was inflating the cost of regional energy trade.