Barbara Bako, Abuja.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has unveiled draft regulations aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices in the petroleum industry, as part of efforts to promote fair market access, boost investment, and improve transparency across the midstream and downstream sectors.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ consultation in Abuja, the Authority Chief Executive, Rabiu Umar, said the proposed regulations would provide a comprehensive framework to tackle abuse of market dominance, collusion, discriminatory access to infrastructure, and other practices capable of distorting competition in the sector.
Umar said the draft regulations were designed to strengthen investor confidence while ensuring a level playing field for all operators in the industry.
He noted that the Authority had already received submissions from stakeholders on the draft and convened the consultation to gather practical inputs before finalising the regulations.
According to him, the consultation is intended to identify provisions requiring clarification or refinement and to ensure the rules are practical, effective, and aligned with the objectives of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Umar also disclosed that NMDPRA recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to deepen regulatory collaboration on competition and consumer protection issues in the petroleum sector.
He explained that both agencies have complementary mandates and would work together to strengthen fair market practices and regulatory oversight across the industry.
Earlier, the Legal Secretary of NMDPRA, Dr. Joseph Tolorunse, said the proposed competition regulations contain 138 regulations across 23 parts, making them the first sector-specific competition framework for Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum industry.
He explained that the regulations translate the competition provisions of the PIA into enforceable rules covering pipelines, terminals, storage facilities, wholesale and retail petroleum markets, petrochemicals, digital markets, mergers, and infrastructure access.
Tolorunse said the framework seeks to prevent monopoly, market manipulation, and abuse of dominance while guaranteeing open and non-discriminatory access to essential petroleum infrastructure.
He added that the regulations also provide mechanisms for price and tariff transparency, oversight of vertically integrated operators, investigation and enforcement powers, and coordinated reviews with the FCCPC for major transactions.
He said the framework marks a shift from regulating only technical operations and licensing to actively overseeing how market power is exercised in Nigeria’s petroleum industry, adding that stakeholders’ inputs would be reviewed before the regulations are finalised.
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