The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has called on the Federal Government to urgently support domestic refining and align petroleum policies to favour locally refined petroleum products through targeted fiscal, regulatory, and infrastructural measures.
Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority must place domestic refining at the centre of its policy framework, in line with the President’s Nigeria-First policy direction and industrialisation agenda.
Yusuf noted that the new leadership of the petroleum regulatory agencies must urgently refocus sector priorities on reducing import dependence, expanding domestic capacity, and catalysing investment across the oil and gas value chain.
He noted that domestic refining must become the immediate and “non-negotiable” priority in the downstream sector. “Government policy should clearly favour locally refined petroleum products through targeted fiscal, regulatory and infrastructural support for both public and private refineries, while actively encouraging new investments in refining capacity,” he said.
The CPPE’s charge to the government to prioritise domestic refining follows the recent appointment of new chief executive officers for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
On December 17, President Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as the Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC and Saidu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA, following the resignation of the previous heads, Farouk Ahmed (NMDPRA) and Gbenga Komolafe (NUPRC), who had served since the agencies’ inception under the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021.
The CPPE commended President Bola Tinubu for what it described as a reset of Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory architecture, stating that the appointments offered “a strategic opportunity to reposition the oil and gas regulatory environment” in line with the administration’s energy sovereignty and production growth agenda.
Yusuf criticised what he described as policy distortions that place imported petroleum products in direct competition with locally refined products under unequal regulatory and fiscal conditions.
“This does not constitute fair competition. Genuine competition only exists when all operators function within the same policy, tax, and regulatory environment,” Yusuf stressed. This is not merely to protect investors, but to safeguard Nigeria’s long-term economic interests,” he said.
Yusuf noted that a strong domestic refining base was essential for building a resilient, energy-secure, and sovereign economy, adding that it would also drive job creation, conserve foreign exchange, and enhance macroeconomic stability.
“A strong domestic refining base is fundamental to job creation, foreign exchange conservation, macroeconomic stability, and the development of export-oriented refining capacity,” he added.
He further argued that domestic refining was key to backward integration and resource-based industrialisation, stressing that supporting refineries would strengthen petrochemical, fertiliser, and allied industries.
“Supporting refineries strengthens Nigeria’s petrochemical, fertiliser and allied industries, thereby creating broader industrial value chains that drive inclusive growth,” he said.
On the upstream segment, the CPPE called for urgent measures to ramp up crude oil and gas production through policies that attract fresh investments across onshore and offshore assets.
Yusuf said this was particularly important as the global energy transition accelerates, warning that Nigeria must maximise the value of its hydrocarbon resources while the opportunity still exists.
“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission should prioritise production growth, investment facilitation and improved security, with a clear national objective of raising crude oil output to a minimum of two million barrels per day through close collaboration with industry stakeholders,” he said.
He added that expanded investment in gas production must also be a central focus, while compliance with domestic crude supply obligations to local refineries should remain a priority.
“These strategic imperatives must define the direction of Nigeria’s new petroleum regulatory leadership if the sector is to drive sustainable growth, industrialisation, and long-term economic resilience effectively,” Yusuf said.
