The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has outlined key imperatives to guide Nigeria’s new petroleum regulators towards sustainable growth and industrialisation.

CPPE founder Muda Yusuf disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

Mr Yusuf commended President Bola Tinubu for resetting the petroleum regulatory architecture by appointing new chief executives at NMDPRA and NUPRC.

He said the appointments offered a strategic opportunity to align regulation with commitments to energy sovereignty, security, self-reliance, and accelerated production growth.

Mr Yusuf said the new leadership must urgently cut import dependence, expand domestic capacity, and boost investment across the oil and gas value chain.

According to him, domestic refining support in the downstream sector must be an immediate and non-negotiable priority.

“Government policy should clearly favour locally refined petroleum products through targeted fiscal, regulatory, and infrastructural support,” Yusuf said.

He added that Nigeria must end distortions allowing imports to compete unfairly with locally refined products.

“This does not constitute fair competition. Genuine competition exists only when operators function under the same policy, tax, and regulatory environment,” he said.

Mr Yusuf urged NMDPRA to place domestic refining at the centre of its framework, aligned with the Nigeria-First policy and industrialisation agenda.

He said the approach would safeguard Nigeria’s long-term economic interests, not merely protect investors.

On the upstream sector, Mr Yusuf said Nigeria must urgently ramp up crude oil and gas production to attract fresh onshore and offshore investments.

“This is critical as the global energy transition accelerates. Nigeria must maximise its hydrocarbon value while the opportunity exists,” he said.

Mr Yusuf said NUPRC should target production growth and security, aiming to raise crude output to at least two million barrels per day.

(NAN)