The Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has urged the Federal Government to urgently strengthen Nigeria’s domestic refining industry and reduce the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
The association made the call in a position paper titled “Position Paper on the Urgent Need for Strategic Government Intervention to Strengthen Nigeria’s Domestic Refining Industry”, issued on Thursday.
CORAN cited recent measures by United States President Donald Trump to support the American refining sector as a model Nigeria could learn from, arguing that the country had an even stronger case for strategic government intervention.
According to the association, local refinery operators are currently grappling with foreign exchange pressures, high borrowing costs, limited access to long-term financing, crude supply challenges, inadequate infrastructure and rising logistics expenses.
“It is sound industrial policy. It is energy-security policy. And ultimately, it is economic policy,” CORAN stated.
The association expressed concern that Nigeria, despite being one of Africa’s leading crude oil producers, continues to face challenges in securing adequate crude supplies for domestic refineries on commercially viable terms.
CORAN said that in the first quarter of 2026, 61.9 million barrels of crude were allocated to domestic refineries, while producers offered 68.7 million barrels. However, only 28.5 million barrels were eventually delivered.
The association said the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had identified pricing disparities between crude producers and domestic refiners as one of the key factors preventing crude offers from translating into completed transactions.
CORAN, however, acknowledged an improvement in the second quarter, noting that NUPRC reported the supply of 53.7 million barrels of crude oil and condensate to local refineries, representing a reported 97.4 per cent performance under the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation.
“CORAN acknowledges and commends this improvement,” the association stated.
However, the group stressed that crude allocation alone was not enough to guarantee sustainable refinery operations, arguing that crude must be delivered under commercially viable conditions.
“A refinery does not consume an allocation on paper. It consumes crude delivered under commercially sustainable terms,” CORAN said.
The association therefore called for a broader approach to crude supply arrangements, taking into account pricing, transportation, evacuation infrastructure, crude quality, financing, payment terms and the proximity of refineries to producing assets.
CORAN also advocated the adoption of a commercially viable pricing framework for crude supplied to domestic refineries.
While acknowledging the usefulness of international benchmarks such as Brent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Platts as market references, the association argued that they should not be applied mechanically when refiners are also required to bear additional evacuation and logistics costs.
The refinery owners maintained that a stronger domestic refining sector would reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products, strengthen energy security and support broader economic development.
