The Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has called on the Federal Government to urgently convene a Presidential Refining Industry Roundtable to address challenges confronting the domestic refining sector and create a predictable, investment-friendly environment for refinery development.
CORAN made the call in a position paper following recent developments in the United States, where President Donald Trump met with leading refinery and fuel-distribution executives at the White House on September 1, 2026, to discuss measures to increase domestic refining output and reduce fuel prices.
The association said the development offered an important lesson for Nigeria, arguing that government engagement with refinery operators should be seen not as a corporate entitlement but as sound industrial, energy-security and economic policy.
According to CORAN, American refineries were operating at approximately 98 per cent utilisation, with refiners processing about 17.5 million barrels of crude oil per day. Despite the high utilisation rate, it noted, the US government still engaged industry operators after gasoline prices rose above $4 per gallon and inventories tightened.
CORAN said Nigeria faced even more difficult structural challenges, including foreign exchange pressures, high borrowing costs, limited access to long-term financing, crude-feedstock constraints, inadequate infrastructure and high logistics costs.
The association expressed concern that Nigeria, despite being one of Africa’s largest crude oil producers, continues to face difficulties supplying domestic refineries with Nigerian crude on commercially viable terms.
It acknowledged that crude supply to local refineries improved significantly in the second quarter of 2026 but said physical allocation alone was insufficient.
According to CORAN, crude must be delivered at commercially sustainable prices and under arrangements that take into account transportation, quality, evacuation, financing and proximity to producing assets.
The association also reaffirmed its support for the Federal Government’s Naira-for-Crude initiative, urging that the policy be fully institutionalised and made predictable for qualified domestic refineries, including modular and emerging operators.
It argued that refineries whose products are sold largely in naira should not be subjected to unnecessary foreign exchange pressures when sourcing crude.
CORAN therefore called for a transparent mechanism that would enable eligible domestic refineries to access Nigerian crude and settle qualifying transactions in naira under commercially workable conditions.
On crude pricing, the association called for a commercially sensible domestic pricing framework that reflects the actual circumstances of transactions between producers and domestic refiners.
It said international benchmarks such as Brent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Platts remained useful references but should not be applied mechanically where domestic refiners are also required to bear additional transportation, trucking, barging or pipeline costs.
CORAN proposed that domestic crude pricing should take into account crude quality, point of delivery, avoided international freight and insurance costs, domestic evacuation expenses, proximity between producing fields and refineries, and reasonable commercial margins for producers.
The association also urged the government to address the resurgence of petroleum-product imports.
While acknowledging that imports may be necessary to bridge supply gaps and maintain adequate stocks, CORAN said imports should increasingly serve as a temporary supply-gap mechanism rather than remain the default structure of the downstream petroleum market.
It warned that excessive imports alongside domestic refining investments could weaken incentives for refinery development, increase foreign exchange demand, export Nigerian jobs and refining margins, and expose the country to international freight and geopolitical disruptions.
CORAN identified access to finance as another major challenge confronting domestic refinery developers.
It called for the establishment of a Refinery Development and Expansion Financing Framework involving development finance institutions, commercial banks, pension funds, infrastructure funds and private investors.
The framework, it said, could provide longer-term financing, credit guarantees, refinancing windows, construction-risk support and appropriately structured funding for new refineries and existing facilities seeking to expand their capacity.
The association also called for greater investment in pipelines, storage terminals, depots, rail-linked transportation, marine evacuation facilities and other shared infrastructure.
According to CORAN, the predominant movement of crude oil and finished petroleum products by road imposes unnecessary costs on refiners and consumers, contributes to road deterioration and increases transportation and accident risks.
It said Nigeria must begin to regard refineries as strategic industrial infrastructure rather than merely downstream petroleum businesses.
CORAN noted that domestic refining could support employment, engineering, fabrication, transportation, petrochemicals, lubricants, plastics, construction and other industries while helping the country conserve foreign exchange.
It therefore advocated a refining ecosystem comprising large, medium-sized and modular refineries strategically located around crude-producing areas and major consumption centres.
The association called for an urgent Presidential Refining Industry Roundtable involving CORAN, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), NNPC Limited, crude oil producers, financial institutions, infrastructure investors and relevant government ministries.
According to CORAN, the meeting should produce clear timelines for institutionalising Naira-for-Crude, establishing a domestic crude-pricing framework, strengthening the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation, promoting crude swaps, reducing unnecessary petroleum-product imports, providing long-term refinery financing, developing shared infrastructure, establishing strategic product reserves, supporting refinery expansion and creating a clear national refining roadmap.
The association said Nigeria must move decisively from an import-dependent petroleum economy to a production-driven one.
It called on the government to support refinery development, pipelines, storage infrastructure, commercially priced Nigerian crude and long-term industrial finance, while allowing competition among domestic producers to deliver greater efficiency and sustainable prices.
CORAN stressed that Nigeria could not continue exporting crude oil, exporting jobs and importing petroleum products at significant economic cost.
It said the ultimate objective should be for Nigerian crude to increasingly power Nigerian refineries, Nigerian refineries to increasingly supply the domestic market, and Nigeria to ultimately become a refining hub for Africa.