The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure petroleum marketers do not exploit Nigerians through excessive fuel pricing despite the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.
The directive was issued on Monday by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 NMDPRA General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum in Abuja.
The two-day forum is themed, “Beyond Compliance: Driving Regulatory Certainty and Investment Confidence in Nigeria’s Petroleum Sector.”
Lokpobiri stressed that although the downstream sector now operates under a deregulated framework, the regulator must prevent the system from becoming an avenue for profiteering at the expense of consumers.
He observed that the recent easing of tensions in the Middle East and the corresponding decline in global crude oil prices should ordinarily have resulted in lower pump prices for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
According to him, crude oil prices have fallen significantly from a peak of about $120 per barrel to approximately $72 per barrel last week, yet consumers have not experienced corresponding reductions in petrol prices.
Refiners and petroleum marketers, he noted, have continued to sell the product at elevated prices despite the substantial drop in crude oil costs.
“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,” the minister said.
He added that while market forces are expected to determine prices under deregulation, the Petroleum Industry Act also empowers the regulator to prevent exploitation.
“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,” he stated.
Lokpobiri also instructed the NMDPRA to intensify monitoring of fuel dispensing stations to ensure Nigerians receive the exact quantity of fuel they pay for.
He emphasised that consumers deserve value for money, warning against under-dispensing at filling stations.
“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, they should receive exactly 10 litres, not less,” he said.
The minister noted that despite recent geopolitical tensions involving the United States and Iran, Nigeria avoided fuel scarcity due to the deregulation of the downstream sector and increased domestic refining capacity.
He described the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as the legal framework for transforming Nigeria’s petroleum industry but stressed that attracting investments now depends on consistent and predictable regulation.
“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 said.
Lokpobiri urged legal advisers and general counsels in the petroleum sector to act as partners in promoting investment by removing unnecessary regulatory bottlenecks.
“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 added.
Earlier, the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, Mallam Rabiu Umar, said the petroleum industry has reached a stage where regulatory certainty, transparency and investor confidence are just as important as regulatory compliance.
According to him, implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act has shifted attention from the content of the law to the quality and consistency of its enforcement.
“Compliance remains the foundation. The broader objective is to create a petroleum industry characterised by certainty, predictability, transparency and confidence,” Umar said.
He acknowledged existing implementation challenges and areas requiring regulatory clarification, assuring stakeholders that the Authority remains committed to improving the regulatory environment through engagement and fairness.
Umar pledged that the NMDPRA would continue to regulate the industry transparently and consistently while strengthening collaboration with stakeholders.
Also speaking at the forum, the Secretary and Legal Adviser of the NMDPRA, Dr Joseph Tolorunse, said regulatory certainty remains essential to maintaining stable fiscal policies throughout the lifespan of petroleum projects and preventing policy reversals.
He added that the Petroleum Industry Act has significantly enhanced the competitiveness of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, noting that greater competitiveness would attract fresh investments capable of driving economic growth.
