By Mary Izuaka

 

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Tuesday unveiled a comprehensive competition framework for the nation’s midstream and downstream petroleum industry, aimed at curbing monopoly, price-fixing, and abuse of market dominance.

The framework, titled the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Prevention of Anticompetitive Practices and Behaviour Regulations (MDPPAPBR) 2026, contains 138 Regulations across 23 parts.

In his opening remarks during a stakeholders consultation forum on Tuesday, the Authority Chief Executive, Rabiu Umar, said the proposed Regulations are intended to strengthen the midstream and downstream petroleum sector by preventing anti-competitive practices, addressing abuse of dominance, promoting fair and non-discriminatory access to essential infrastructure, and enhancing transparency and market efficiency.

Mr Umar said the Authority had received several submissions from stakeholders regarding the proposed Regulations, which were to be reviewed at the forum.

“Today’s consultation is an opportunity for the Authority to engage with industry stakeholders and benefit from your practical experience. We particularly welcome your views on the clarity, practicality and likely impact of the proposed Regulations.

“We encourage participants to identify specific provisions that may require clarification or refinement and, where appropriate, suggest practical alternatives that can achieve the intended regulatory objectives,” he said.

Overview of draft regulations

Giving an overview of the draft Regulations, the NMDPRA secretary/legal adviser, Joseph Tolorunse, said the Regulations are a competition-law framework for Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum industry.

“It contains 138 Regulations across 23 parts, dealing not merely with price fixing, but also infrastructure access, dominance, vertical integration, mergers, digital markets, enforcement, penalties, compliance and inter-agency coordination,” Mr Tolorunse said.

He said the central purpose of the Regulations is to translate the competition provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) into detailed, enforceable rules for the midstream and downstream petroleum sectors.

According to him, the objectives include creating a level playing field, preventing monopoly and abuse of dominance, protecting consumers against collusion and market manipulation, guaranteeing open and non-discriminatory access to essential infrastructure, increasing transparency of prices, capacity and market information, attracting investment and aligning Nigeria’s petroleum competition regime with international practice.

He said the Regulations cover transportation through pipelines, storage and terminals, wholesale petroleum liquids and gas, retail fuel distribution, petrochemicals and related commercial activities, and bind licensees, permit and authorisation holders, affiliates and other persons engaged in commerce in the sector, including industry associations where their activities affect competition.

“In practical terms, the Regulations transform competition protection into a core component of petroleum regulation, rather than leaving competition matters solely to general competition law,” he said.

Key provisions

On general prohibition, Mr Tolorunse said Regulation 3 prohibits any conduct, agreement, arrangement, understanding, decision or practice that has the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition, regardless of form.

He said owners or controllers of essential petroleum infrastructure – pipelines, storage terminals, jetties, bulk-loading facilities, depots, and similar assets – cannot unjustifiably refuse, delay, or obstruct access for qualified third parties.

According to him, access must be transparent, non-discriminatory and based only on legitimate technical, safety and creditworthiness considerations.

On pricing and tariff transparency, he said operators must publish all tariffs, fees and general service conditions and are prohibited from hidden surcharges, secret discounts, undisclosed preferential arrangements and informal side agreements that alter published access conditions.

This, he said, ensures a fully transparent and level playing field for all market participants.

He said the Regulations take a firm stance against horizontal coordination, prohibiting competitors from coordinating on pump prices, ex-depot prices, margins and discounts, freight charges, supply and output levels, territories or customer allocation and tender submissions.

He added that the framework extends competition oversight into commercial arrangements such as exclusive supply agreements, long-term contracts, take-or-pay provisions, tying and bundling, loyalty rebates, minimum-volume commitments, resale price maintenance and franchise restrictions where they substantially lessen competition.

On market dominance, Mr Tolorunse said the Regulations do not prohibit dominance itself but prohibit abuse of dominance.

He said the Regulations contain entire parts addressing market dominance, vertically integrated operations, affiliate conduct and intra-group transactions, requiring equal treatment of affiliates and independent competitors, controls on cross-subsidisation, transparent transfer pricing, operational separation where needed and oversight of affiliate behaviour that may distort competition.

He described the dedicated competition review mechanism for mergers, acquisitions, changes of control and significant joint ventures as one of the most consequential features.

“When reviewing transactions, the Authority may evaluate horizontal concentration, vertical foreclosure risks, elimination of actual or potential competitors, barriers to entry, effects on consumers and innovation, control of essential facilities and claimed efficiencies,” he said.

On digital markets, data and AI pricing, he said the Regulations are unusually forward-looking for a petroleum-sector instrument, with Part VIII addressing market data, shared platforms, insider information, dominant digital platforms, algorithmic and AI-based pricing, competitively sensitive information and consumer data.

“This is important because digitalisation can facilitate competition but can also make coordinated pricing, information exchange and discriminatory market access much easier,” he stated.

On enforcement, he said the Authority receives powers covering market monitoring, complaints, preliminary assessments, investigations, information gathering, interim measures, cease-and-desist orders, corrective remedies and monitoring trustees, with protections relating to confidentiality and whistleblowers.

He said institutionally, one of the most important aspects is the relationship between NMDPRA and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

“The Regulations expressly recognise concurrent jurisdiction and regulatory coordination, including joint oversight of competition and consumer protection,” he said.

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He added that for merger transactions, the framework contemplates cooperation between NMDPRA and FCCPC, including information sharing, coordinated or parallel reviews and alignment of timelines and remedies.

Why regulations matter

Mr Tolorunse said the greatest significance of the Regulations is that it effectively creates a sector-specific competition code for Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum industry.

He said it moves the regulatory system from simply licensing operators and regulating technical operations toward actively regulating how market power is exercised.

“That matters because liberalisation under the PIA cannot produce a genuinely competitive petroleum market merely by issuing licences to multiple participants. Competition can still be frustrated where one participant controls essential pipelines, terminals, storage capacity, wholesale supply, market information or distribution networks,” he said.

He said the Regulations attempt to address the economic architecture of the market: who gets access, on what terms, at what price, with what information, and subject to what competitive safeguards.

For NMDPRA, he said, the Regulations significantly strengthen the Authority’s ability to intervene against infrastructure foreclosure, discriminatory access, capacity hoarding, collusion, abusive dominance, anti-competitive pricing and problematic mergers while simultaneously requiring coordination with FCCPC.

For licensees, he said, the implication is substantial as competition compliance becomes a licence-risk issue, requiring contracts, pricing policies, infrastructure-access procedures, affiliate transactions, joint venture structures, acquisitions, data-sharing arrangements and even board-level governance to be assessed through a competition-law lens.

He, however, cautioned that because the Regulations create a detailed interface between NMDPRA’s PIA mandate and FCCPC’s general competition jurisdiction, some provisions on concurrent jurisdiction, merger approvals, prevailing decisions and enforcement must be carefully reviewed to avoid jurisdictional conflict, duplication or uncertainty.