interviews

Nigeria's downstream petroleum sector runs on a vast and often invisible network of independent marketers who bridge the gap between large distributors and the everyday consumer. At the centre of that network sits the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, whose National President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi Shettima, has made it his mandate to defend the interests of marketers and hold the industry to account.

Product diversion by truck drivers during haulage, not supply failures at depots, is the primary driver of petroleum shortages in Nigeria's distribution chain, the Depot Manager at Bono Energy Storage Terminal, has said.

Nigeria's downstream sector is navigating its most consequential transition in decades: deregulated prices, a new large scale refinery, and a generation of operators built on importation now forced to rethink everything. Adetunji Oyebanji, who retired in March 2026 as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of 11 Plc after 45 years that began on the floor of what was then Mobil Oil Nigeria, tells Petroleumprice.ng that the industry has come full circle and that the country has earned the right to stop looking backwards.

More than two years after the removal of fuel subsidies, Nigerian consumers are still absorbing prices that show no clear path downward. Ogechi Morenikeji Nkwoji, Head of Economic Intelligence, Research and Regulation at the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, tells Petroleumprice.ng that the problem runs deeper than global oil markets and that fixing it will require infrastructure investment, genuine competition, and policy coordination that have so far remained incomplete.

Nigeria's downstream petroleum sector is being reshaped by deregulation, a new domestic refinery, and mounting foreign exchange pressure. Chinedu Ukadike, Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN), tells Petroleumprice.ng that through every shift, one thing has not changed: independent marketers remain the backbone of fuel distribution in Nigeria, and the market cannot function without them.

Nigeria's downstream petroleum sector rewards very few companies with longevity. BOAZ Commodities Limited has earned nearly nine years in the market by doing something deceptively simple: keeping its word and remaining consistent. Managing Director Ihuoma Okafor tells Petroleumprice.ng that in an industry built on price volatility and fragile trust, integrity is a survival strategy.

Fuel prices in Nigeria have not stabilised despite the arrival of a new super refinery. Jide Pratt, Country Manager of TradeGrid and Chief Operating Officer of Aiona, tells PetroleumPrice.ng that the problem was never about refining capacity. It is about policy, and Nigeria is running out of excuses not to fix it.