African Oil Market Fundamentals (October 2025)

7-9 October 2025

Major changes are sweeping across West Africa: exchange rate policy changes, subsidy withdrawal, specification changes and broader liberalisation. This course provides essential training to adapt to this new oil product trading environment. New opportunities are appearing – enhance your skillset to take advantage.

The course will cover:

  • Global crude and products market fundamentals
    • Crude and products markets overview: supply, demand, flows
    • Supply and demand economics & market drivers
    • Understanding the market players & their roles
    • International trading of crude oil and crude evaluation
    • A non-technical introduction to refining
    • A Trader’s view of refining
    • Quality differences around the globe
  • African price structures in an international context
    • Pricing in oil markets and price discovery
    • Pricing agencies
    • Benchmarks
    • Contract types, incoterms and issues
      – Spot / Term
      – Spot / Forward
      – FOB / CIF

      • Fixed versus floating
      • African pricing: benchmarks & differentials
      • Moving the oil (the shipping process)
      • Vessel types and standards
      • Understanding and calculating freight costs (Worldscale, Flat Rates, AFRA)
      • Price structures & regulatory distortions
      • Currency dynamics
      • Import parity pricing vs downstream pricing
  • Operations
    • Chartering and charterparty basics
    • African refining landscape: new additions, Dangote
    • Importing products into Africa
    • Vessel scheduling & demurrage
    • Tenders (term and spot)
    • Pricing options
    • Credit
    • Inland logistics
    • Retail & B2B dynamics

Course consultant : Jeremy Parker, Senior consultant