CITAC African Downstream Workshops 2026

16-17 April 2026

The African Downstream Landscape

Africa’s growing population and economies raise critical questions about how the rising energy requirements will be met.

Energy transition, LPG investment, refining, storage, product flows and supply chain challenges are issues that affect all players in the downstream.

CITAC’s interactive workshops on the African downstream energy sector will provide you with actionable insights and discussions to enable you to be an active player in these dynamic developments, discussing business cases and covering topical subjects.

  • International market developments and their impact on the African downstream – Elitsa Georgieva & James McCullagh
  • Managing price structures in a dynamic downstream environment – James McCullagh
  • Supply chain management: how small changes can lead to large cash savings – Bruce Hutchison
  • Is energy transition really changing the African retail sector? – Elitsa Georgieva
  • Asset utilisation in Sub-Saharan Africa – where is investment needed? – Jeremy Parker
  • Where next for African refining? – Jeremy Parker

You will learn about refining, distribution, marketing and financing developments in the African downstream energy sector and will share experiences with pan-African and international companies.

The CITAC African Downstream Workshops offer you an unparalleled forum for networking with key players in the sector, including refiners, marketers, national oil companies, regulators, international and local traders, banks, storage and distribution companies, and more.

Oil Product Trading & Operations (November 2025)

24-28 November 2025

CITAC’s Trading and Operations Course gives an insight into the crude oil and products trading markets and the operations and control of supply contracts, including shipping.

This five day course will cover and discuss the following topics:

  • New market dynamics
    • Impact of Dangote refinery
    • Effect of new exchange rate regime
    • Rewiring of smuggled product
    • Introduction of new product specifications
  • Pricing in oil markets
    • Benchmarks and differentials
    • Price makers and price takers
  • Trading oil
    • Market participants
    • Oil contracts and clauses
    • Product quality
    • Deal negotiations
  • Refining industry
    • Refining economics
  • The operations process
    • Documentation
    • Role obligations and rights
    • Letter of credit
    • Letter of indemnity
    • Cargo inspection
    • Areas of contention
    • Breach
    • Dispute resolution
  • The shipping market
    • Chartering
    • Freight costing and worldscale rates
    • Vessel vetting and nomination
    • AFRA rates and demurrage

This course is designed for those interested in gaining a thorough understanding of the
International oil trading business.

Course consultant : Christopher Heilpern, Business and Training consultant

Reflecting reality in “IPP” and “downstream” price structures in Sub-Saharan Africa: Principles and Methods (March 2026)

17th-19th March 2025

This training will be in French and will provide participants with a deep understanding of the “import parity” and “pump parity” models in Africa, including how they are administered in specific markets. Participants will learn to understand and identify anomalies in comparison to industry best practices, as well as propose solutions.

Course consultant : James McCullagh, CITAC Executive Director

Are you looking for a particular type of training that’s not on our schedule?

We can collaborate with you to create a unique programme that contains all the answers to your questions about operating successfully in the African downstream energy market.

Our highly experienced trainers are able to create theoretical, practical and interactive training courses to build your team’s capacity. Our wide-ranging expertise covers Africa and global trading, operations, supply chain, LNG, shipping, finance and more.

We can also run any of our regular courses in-house or for you or to any location you choose or online, saving you time, money and travel.

Our areas of expertise :

  • Fundamentals of Oil Trading
  • Oil Trading Risk Management
  • Oil Trading and Operations
  • Product Supply Chain Challenges
  • LNG
  • Price Structures
  • Freight Markets
  • Demurrage
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