October 10, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has unveiled seven additional draft regulations to improve operational and regulatory efficiency in the upstream arm of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The unveiling was made through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (UPRC) during which the agency engaged stakeholders in Abuja at the fourth phase of consultations to obtain their inputs in finalising the laws.
The Chief Executive Officer, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, said the stakeholders consultation was in line with section 216 (1) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires the commission to consult with stakeholders prior to finalising regulations or amendments to regulations.
Komolafe, who was represented by Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulation and Planning, Kelechi Ofoegbu, said one of the objectives of the PIA was to foster a business environment conducive for petroleum operations.
He recalled that between June 2022 and July 2023 the commission successfully produced 12 regulations which had been gazetted into law.
He said the best way to actualise this objective was by establishing a framework for the economic regulation of commercial operations in upstream oil and gas ventures.
“This can be seen in NUPRC’s efforts to ensure that regulations and key policies necessitated by the PIA are developed and gazetted timely so that the industry operators can align their operations with the PIA provisions as quickly as possible,” he stated.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
