Nigeria proposes domestic crude swap

The Nigeria — Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has begun consultations with industry stakeholders on a proposed domestic crude oil and gas swap arrangement. The initiative aims to reduce supply costs and improve feedstock availability for local refineries by allowing producers with obligations near export facilities to swap supply positions with those closer to domestic offtakers, thereby reducing unnecessary transportation. The arrangement is expected to improve compliance with the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation and Domestic Gas Supply Obligation, and will be coordinated with the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria. NUPRC data shows domestic crude supply to local refiners improved to 53.7 million barrels in Q2 2026, a 97.4% performance, yet crude imports persist. The Nigeria — Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) expressed support for strategic petroleum reserves and emphasized that pricing remains critical to domestic refining viability. The proposal is part of broader efforts to ensure reliable and competitively priced crude supplies as domestic refining capacity expands, including at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.