…Faults Slow Petrol Price Cuts
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has charged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure that the deregulation of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector does not become an avenue for profiteering at the expense of consumers.
Speaking on Monday in Abuja at the 2026 NMDPRA General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum, the minister said while the government remained committed to a market-driven downstream sector, the regulator had a statutory responsibility under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to protect consumers, ensure fair market practices and strengthen investor confidence.
The forum, themed “Beyond Compliance: Driving Regulatory Certainty and Investment Confidence in Nigeria’s Petroleum Sector,” brought together legal advisers, industry operators, regulators and government officials to discuss strategies for strengthening regulatory certainty and attracting investment into Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
The minister warned that although deregulation allows market forces to determine petroleum product prices, it must never be allowed to short-change Nigerians.
He said, “Beyond allowing prices to be determined by market forces, the question is: what is the regulator doing to ensure that consumers receive the correct quantity of product? When someone pays for 10 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), they should receive exactly 10 litres, not less.”
The minister also expressed concern over the slow adjustment in petrol prices despite easing tensions in the Middle East and declining crude oil prices.
He said, “Following the de-escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States, we expected to see commensurate downward adjustment in the prices of PMS and other petroleum products.
“However, that has not yet happened. While we believe that market forces will eventually restore equilibrium, the regulator also has a statutory responsibility to ensure that deregulation does not become an avenue for profiteering. This must be done in line with the extant provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).”
He noted that Nigeria was competing for global energy investments at a time when investors were increasingly favouring countries with clear policies, effective institutions and predictable regulatory environments.
According to him, “Investors today are more discerning than ever. Capital increasingly flows to jurisdictions where policies are clear, institutions are effective, contracts are respected, and regulatory processes are predictable. Nigeria is competing in that environment. And I want to be direct: we are competing well.”
The minister said the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 had fundamentally transformed the governance framework of the petroleum industry by establishing a more transparent and commercially oriented regulatory system.
However, he stressed that the country must now focus on strengthening the institutions and regulatory culture needed to translate the law into tangible investment outcomes.
He said, “The PIA gave us the architecture. What we must now build is the culture, the institutional habits, the interpretive discipline, and the regulatory character that make the law’s objectives real for every investor evaluating Nigeria against any other destination in the world.”
He highlighted reforms implemented over the past three years, including the gazetting of regulatory guidelines and the full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector, describing the removal of fuel subsidies as a bold decision by President Bola Tinubu that had paved the way for the operationalisation of the Dangote Refinery and other refinery projects.
According to him, the reforms have also eliminated the persistent fuel shortages that previously plagued the country, with petroleum products remaining available despite recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The minister urged general counsels and legal advisers to play a more strategic role in driving investment and improving regulatory outcomes.
He said, “The modern General Counsel is not a gatekeeper. The modern General Counsel is a strategic partner, in commercial decision-making, in regulatory design, and in national development.”
He also cautioned legal practitioners against allowing excessive caution to become an obstacle to investment.
“Do not become stumbling blocks. Do not allow the instinct toward caution, which is entirely legitimate in legal practice, to harden into an instinct toward obstruction. We will not be judged by the number of regulations we produce or the volume of guidelines we issue. We will be judged by the investments we attract, the businesses we enable, the jobs we create, and the value we leave behind for future generations,” he said.
The minister urged participants to move beyond mere compliance by providing constructive feedback that would improve regulatory clarity and policy implementation.
He assured stakeholders that the Federal Government would continue to pursue policy consistency while regulators strengthened transparency, stakeholder engagement and service delivery to make Nigeria’s petroleum sector more competitive and attractive to investors.
