The Federal Government is working towards ending crude oil exports as Nigeria expands its refining capacity and seeks to transform the country into a major hub for refined petroleum products in Africa.

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Rabiu Umar, disclosed this on Monday at the 49th Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers Nigeria Council in Lagos.

Umar said Nigeria’s expanding refining capacity meant the country should increasingly process its crude locally rather than export the raw commodity. He said the development of new private and modular refineries was rapidly transforming Nigeria from a crude oil exporter and importer of refined petroleum products into a regional refining hub.

“The fact that today, we have more refining capacity in Nigeria than we’ve ever had. And, of course, with the projects that are on stream and the expansions that we are also going to witness in the coming years, clearly Nigeria is going to turn into a refining hub for Africa, which means that perhaps every single molecule of our three million barrels a day production that we hope to achieve in the next couple of years will actually be refined locally.

“What that means, and I think this is a monumental shift, is a handshake between the upstream, midstream and downstream. Effectively, it’s not just exporting the raw crude, but making sure that what we actually end up exporting is the refined petroleum products. And I think this is quite substantial,” he stated.

The NMDPRA chief executive said his agency was working with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation, which he described as critical to supporting the country’s growing refining industry.

“True resilience requires operational and commercial balance. And we remain steadfast in working with our sister agency, the NUPRC, in enforcing the domestic crude supply obligation. And this is really, really important because if we have enough refining capacity, really we don’t have any reason to be exporting crude oil.

“The more of the refined products we are able to export, the more value we create because, after extraction, we’re also adding value, including in the gas and petrochemical sectors as well,” Umar stated.

He said the shift towards domestic refining would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its petroleum resources by integrating the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. Umar also identified energy security, gas expansion and regulatory excellence as key priorities of the NMDPRA.

He said the authority was working to ensure adequate petroleum product stocks were maintained close to markets to guard against supply disruptions and price shocks.

“In addition, we are also working on ensuring that we maintain a certain level of stock in the country at any given point in time. As we’ve seen with the current global crises, we have seen how countries have had to dip into their reserves to make sure that prices don’t escalate.

“So, when we talk about energy security, it’s not just having the products on the coastline, but having the products near markets. In addition to that, we’re also working to make sure that we have stock that will have a protocol of release to make sure that prices remain fairly stable because, of course, as we know, supply and demand drive what we see in terms of pricing,” he added.

Umar said the NMDPRA was also removing bottlenecks affecting the deployment of midstream infrastructure, including pipelines, depots and strategic storage terminals.

He said the agency was working with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, to rehabilitate critical infrastructure, strengthen integrity management, sustain throughput, and reduce losses and disruptions.

On regulation, Umar said the authority was seeking to make the sector more predictable for investors by reducing bureaucratic hurdles and speeding up regulatory decisions.

“On our own part, what we’re trying to do is to make sure that we move away from regulators being seen as police people. Our job is to make sure that the environment is predictable. People can predict what to expect. People can actually determine how long it will take to get a certain refining licence, for example. Because once the conditions are met, it’s like clockwork.

“Because we can’t move forward in the 21st century in terms of investment when we are having a mindset of 1960. So this is really the core of what we’re trying to achieve,” Umar explained.

The NMDPRA chief executive said Nigeria was also seeking to strengthen its position in the West African petroleum products market through the development of a regional pricing benchmark.

He said the initiative, being pursued with other West African regulators and S&P Global Commodity Insights, would help create a transparent regional market and turn Nigeria into a trading hub.

“Our idea is to see how we can actually turn Nigeria into a trading hub. Working with other West African regulators, how do we have one single standard or, if you like, specification for all the products that we consume? That way, people can move products from one region to another without constraint. Today, you hear 50 ppm, somewhere it’s 200 ppm, and all sorts of other parameters that are different,” he stated.

Umar urged stakeholders to focus on implementing existing policies and strategies rather than continuing to develop new plans.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said collaboration remained critical to developing Nigeria’s oil and gas industry amid rapid changes in the global energy landscape.

Eyesan said geopolitical developments, climate considerations, technological disruptions, artificial intelligence, changing investment priorities and rising energy demand were redefining how countries produce, transport and consume energy.

“The theme of this year’s conference, ‘Thriving in the Evolving Global Energy Landscape: Collaborative Growth and Resilience,’ speaks directly to the realities confronting our industry today.”

She said the conference was more than an annual gathering, noting that discussions held at the event over the years had contributed to shaping the direction of Nigeria’s petroleum industry.

Eyesan said collaboration among government, regulators, operators, investors, service providers and professionals had helped shape reforms in the upstream sector.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the SPE Nigeria Council, Francis Nwaochie, said Nigeria’s energy future would depend not only on its natural resources but also on its ability to develop solutions to its energy challenges, strengthen institutions, attract investment and sustain collaboration.

Nwaochie said the country had abundant hydrocarbon resources, a growing gas economy, resilient indigenous operators, skilled professionals and an expanding technology ecosystem.

He stressed that recent developments, including the 2025 oil and gas licensing round, the Decade of Gas initiative and the Federal Government’s plan to settle verified arrears owed to power generation companies and gas suppliers through a N4tn government-backed bond, indicated that the industry was moving towards greater investment and stability.

Nwaochie said resilience should translate into increased production, gas commercialisation, improved ease of doing business, stronger regulatory coordination, deeper local content and increased access to long-term capital.

FirstHoldCo Plc has become the first Nigerian banking group to cross the N6tn market capitalisation mark, setting a historic record for the nation’s financial sector as strong investor demand continues to fuel a sustained rally in its shares.

The financial services holding company reached the landmark during Monday’s trading session on the Nigerian Exchange Limited after its share price rose to N136.50. Based on its 45.48 billion total outstanding shares, the price appreciation pushed the group’s total market value to approximately N6.21tn.

The achievement comes less than two weeks after the financial services group first crossed the N5tn market capitalisation threshold. Sustained buying pressure on the local bourse saw investors add more than N1tn to the company’s equity value in under a fortnight.

Since the start of 2026, FirstHoldCo’s stock has surged by 184.97 per cent, with a 143.53 per cent gain recorded since the end of June alone. The performance positions the lender as one of the top-performing large-cap equities on the NGX this year.

The stock’s momentum gained significant traction following the release of the group’s half-year financial results, which showed robust top-line and bottom-line earnings growth. Market analysts attribute the rally to renewed investor optimism surrounding Nigeria’s banking sector, driven by higher net interest margins in an elevated-interest-rate environment and strong transactional volume across digital channels.

The rally also comes against the backdrop of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ongoing recapitalisation exercise, which mandated commercial banks to upgrade their minimum capital base—N500bn for banks with international operational licences—by March 2026. Institutional investors have increasingly reallocated capital toward tier-1 lenders with strong balance sheets, robust capital adequacy ratios, and clear capitalisation strategies to meet the regulatory deadline.

For FirstHoldCo, the parent entity of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, alongside subsidiaries in merchant banking, asset management, and insurance, the valuation represents a turnaround following years of corporate governance reforms and balance sheet clean-ups aimed at resolving non-performing loans.

While crossing the N6tn threshold does not immediately alter daily operations, market watchers note that it sends a strong signal regarding shareholder expectations for future earnings and dividend payouts.

Attention will now shift to whether the group can sustain its valuation momentum in subsequent quarters, with investors closely watching its forthcoming third-quarter financial results, corporate actions, and execution of its long-term strategic plans.

The PUNCH reported that billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has increased his stake in FirstHoldCo Plc after acquiring an additional 1.77 billion shares in the financial institution through his investment vehicle, Calvados Global Services Limited.

A regulatory filing showed that the transaction, valued at N222.20bn, was executed on Thursday, 30 July 2026.

The latest acquisition raises Otedola’s shareholding in FirstHoldCo from 9.99 billion shares to 11.77 billion shares, increasing his ownership stake from 21.96 per cent to 25.88 per cent.

The purchase marks Otedola’s second major investment in the bank in July. On 22 July, he acquired 706.13 million shares valued at N77.58bn, further strengthening his position as the company’s largest shareholder.