According to him, Nigeria can not fully benefit from its petroleum resources without developing adequate refining, midstream and downstream infrastructure. “Refining is not enough; we need to increase our refining capacity to about four million barrels to service the entire African continent,” he said. He also called for stronger regulatory collaboration among West African countries to facilitate cross-border investment and petroleum trade. The minister underscored the need for harmonised standards and coordinated regulation, saying regional cooperation was critical to building a sustainable West African petroleum market. The minister described the forum as an important platform for advancing discussions on infrastructure, investment and sustainable pricing across the West African petroleum market.