The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), through its Competency Centre, in collaboration with S&P Global Commodity Insights (Platts), hosted a virtual webinar on Tuesday to examine how geopolitics, new refining capacity, and shifting trade flows are reshaping West Africa’s refined products market.
The event, themed “Market Fundamentals and Geopolitical Drivers,” explored pricing dynamics, the growing role of Lomé as a trading hub, and the introduction of new regional price assessments by Platts.
MEMAN Chairman, Huub Stokman, in his opening remarks, described the session as timely following Nigeria’s full fuel price deregulation, noting that rising local refining capacity is transforming the supply chain. He reaffirmed MEMAN’s commitment to transparency and stakeholder engagement.
Gary Clark, Associate Editorial Director for EMEA Clean Refined Products at S\&P Global Commodity Insights, said the Dangote refinery has altered trade flows, retaining more gasoil within the region and exporting some jet fuel internationally. He warned, however, that outages and maintenance could quickly reintroduce import needs, citing a recent FCC outage at Dangote that pushed gasoline cracks from $13 to $17 per barrel in August. Clark also announced Platts’ new price assessments, including a FOB West Africa low sulphur diesel benchmark and an STS Lomé assessment designed to reflect regional trading dynamics.
Ogechi Nkwoji, MEMAN’s Head of Economic Intelligence, described Lomé’s offshore hub as a flexible solution to onshore bottlenecks, where large cargoes are broken into smaller parcels of 5,000–20,000 metric tons for regional buyers, mainly Nigerian marketers. She highlighted the advantages of Lomé, including deep-water access, security, and same-day trading capability.
Matthew Tracey-Cook, Senior Price Reporter at S\&P Global, noted weaker European gasoline demand and reduced exports to West Africa since Dangote’s commissioning. He also detailed Platts’ new methodology for assessing West African trades against swaps strips to provide accurate FOB differentials versus the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe.
Speakers observed that while Europe remains a key supplier, direct exports to Nigeria have declined, with more cargoes routed through hubs like Lomé. Alternative supply routes from the United States, Middle East, and India have also reshaped trade flows.
During the Q&A session, panellists addressed questions on pump prices, smuggling, and investment. They noted that subsidy removal has reduced smuggling and emphasised the need for consistent refining capacity, transparent regulation, and diversified supply sources to maintain price stability and resilience.
MEMAN CEO Clement Isong closed the event by reaffirming the association’s commitment to leveraging its partnership with S&P Global for ongoing industry education. Moderator Vanessa Durojaiye thanked participants and underscored that policy stability, transparency, and investor confidence remain critical to sustaining downstream reforms.
Key takeaways included the continued importance of Lomé as a flexible trading hub, the impact of Dangote’s operations on regional flows, and the introduction of Platts’ new price assessments to better capture traded values in the Gulf of Guinea market.