The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the oil and gas industry has saved the country over N6 trillion.

The Authority Chief Executive (ACE) of the NMDPRA, Engineer Saidu Mohammed, stated this while speaking on the topic, “Driving Nigeria’s Downstream Renaissance: Regulation, Investment and Market Confidence” under the summit sub-theme: “Driving Domestic Value: Transforming Downstream Markets and Refining” at the Nigeria International Energy Summit tagged “NIES 2026”.

He listed the key factors responsible for the gains so far to include the full deregulation of the downstream sector, harmonisation of the forex market and incentivising gas use and the trading of crude and products in naira.

The NMDPRA boss attributed infrastructural deficit, weak market structures, inadequate investment, sub-optimal supply, poor regulatory chain efficiency, compliance and unacceptable operational safety and environmental indices as some of the factors that affected the downstream value chain.

According to him, Nigeria’s downstream sector has evolved into a fully liberalised market and is no longer defined by scarcity and supply uncertainty which he said was as a result of the operationalisation of the new legal framework of the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria (PIA 2021).

Engineer Mohammed said, “The bold economic reforms of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have created the renaissance that the downstream sector is enjoying and would continue to leverage upon for sustained sectoral growth in the future.

“The cumulative impact of the full deregulation of the downstream sector, the harmonisation of the forex market, the incentivisation and deepening the use of gas and the trading of crude and product in Naira has reduced the fiscal economic losses of importing petroleum products by over N6 trillion in the first nine months of 2025.

“I am pleased to affirm that this narrative is rapidly changing and that the sector is truly witnessing the early but irreversible signs of a renaissance-type transformation that is driven by bold reform; enabled by investment; and sustained by effective market and operational regulatory enablement.”

He added, “Supply stability has consistently ensured sufficiency of all Petroleum products. The pricing structure of the downstream sector is becoming more driven by the fundamentals of the market and generally attaining the stability level required for encouraging investment in this expansive sector of the economy.

“The supply chain landscape of the sector, which depended significantly on import of nearly all Petroleum Products for a long time is rapidly transforming with growing supply through the nation’s domestic refining capacity, expanding gas-based alternative fuels, improved logistics, and increased private-sector participation.”

He, however, assured that the Authority would continue to partner with the stakeholders by making sure that the industry is healthy, competitive and attractive.

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