Afrigather 
With clear mandates – making certain compliance with petroleum legal guidelines, laws and pointers, monitoring of operations at drilling websites, producing wells, manufacturing platforms and flowstations, crude oil export terminals, and all pipelines carrying crude oil, and pure gasoline, supervising operations being carried out beneath licences and leases, monitoring operations to make sure that they’re consistent with nationwide targets and aspirations – the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Fee, NUPRC, occupies a really influential place in Nigeria’s oil and gasoline business.
The NUPRC additionally has the mandate to observe operations to make sure that they’re consistent with nationwide targets and aspirations, together with these regarding Pure Fuel Flare elimination & monetization, Home Fuel Supply Obligations and Home crude oil provide obligations and ensures that Well being Security & Environmental laws conform to nationwide and worldwide finest oil discipline observe.
Learn additionally: NUPRC mulls relocating some departments to Lagos
The NUPRC maintains information on upstream petroleum operations, advises the federal government on technical issues, and ensures well timed funds of rents, royalties, and revenues. Nevertheless, politicians and analysts understand NUPRC’s actions extra as political than financial, carefully monitoring its actions and complaining about developments that don’t match their pre-conceived idealism. They like realism based mostly on purely financial issues, relatively than specializing in politics.
The Nigerian Petroleum Regulator (NUPRC) is making an attempt to relocate personnel, notably discipline officers, to Lagos, the place many oil and gasoline firms have places of work, because of the Petroleum Trade Act’s purpose of restructuring and productiveness. Nevertheless, many personnel work from unsuitable places, comparable to convention rooms and corridors.
NUPRC, led by Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, has consulted with key stakeholders, together with labour unions, to scale back lodging strain in Abuja, maximise using the Lagos-based workplace, cut back operational prices, enhance organisational effectivity, and improve business development, consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s dedication to chop prices and eradicate waste.
The choice to go away Abuja has been politicised and misinterpreted, inflicting a distraction to the Nigerian Petroleum Regulators Council (NUPRC) beneath Engr. Komolafe. The NUPRC has developed laws to eradicate regulatory bottlenecks and guarantee seamless upstream petroleum operations. These embrace Petroleum Licencing Spherical Laws 2022, Petroleum Royalty Laws 2022, Conversion and Renewal (Licences and Lease), Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Host Communities Growth Laws 2022, Home Fuel Supply Obligations Laws 2022, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Measurement Laws 2023, Manufacturing Curtailment and Home Crude Provide Obligation Laws, and Nigeria Upstream Decommissioning and Abandonment Laws 2023.
Additionally, the 14 draft laws awaiting gazetting embrace Upstream Petroleum Charges and Lease Laws, Acreage Administration Drilling and Manufacturing Laws, Upstream Environmental Remediation Fund Laws, Upstream Petroleum Security Laws, Upstream Petroleum Environmental Laws, Upstream Petroleum Measurement Laws, Advance Cargo Declaration Laws, Draft Upstream Business Operations Laws, Draft upstream Petroleum Code of Conduct & Compliance Laws, Draft Upstream Petroleum Growth Contract Administration Laws, Draft Upstream Revocation of licences and Lease Laws, Draft Upstream Petroleum Project of Curiosity Laws, Draft Nigerian upstream Petroleum (Administrative Harmonisation) Laws and Draft Modification to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Host Communities Growth Laws 2022.
Learn additionally: NUPRC awards 49 flaring sites for gas commercialisation
The Fee has engaged stakeholders on its draft regulatory framework for vitality transition, decarbonisation, and carbon monetisation. The framework will govern the Power Transition and Carbon Monetisation Division and all the business in contemplating vitality transition in oil and gasoline discipline improvement.
Engr. Komolafe’s go to to the Philippines has attracted buyers, with the nation’s oil and condensate reserves at 37.046 billion barrels and 208.62 trillion cubic toes (TCF), respectively, up 0.37 p.c and 1.01 p.c, respectively, as per the reserves report as of January 1, 2022.
He has taken deliberate steps to drive the Decade of Fuel programme declared by the Federal Authorities by means of extra aggressive improvement of the nation’s large gasoline assets, enhanced exploration actions, improvement of utilisation schemes resulting in gasoline reserves development, elevated gasoline manufacturing, maturation of home and export gasoline markets, along with gasoline flare elimination and commercialisation by means of the Nigeria Fuel Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP). Engr. Komolafe has additionally assisted many firms and initiatives to hasten improvement and obtain their first oil manufacturing. A few of the fields embrace: Anyala Subject (First E&P), Ikike (Complete), Efe Subject (Newcross), Utapate Subject (NEPL), and Akubo Subject (SEEPCo).
He contributed immensely to the funding of the Federation’s actions. Within the 12 months 2021, the overall income generated was N2.9 trillion, which signified a 44.82 p.c improve in income generated as in comparison with the 2020 determine, which stood at N2.0 trillion. Then again, the overall income generated in 2022 was N3.781 trillion, indicating a rise of 30.38 p.c.
In 2024, plans are underway to carry the licensing spherical consistent with Part 73 of the nation’s PIA. The Engr. Komolafe-led Fee will optimise the performance of automation programs by enhancing the effectivity of present optimising instruments and the streamlined deployment of recent ones whereas collaborating with related authorities entities to develop oil and gasoline manufacturing in the most effective curiosity of all stakeholders, together with buyers and Nigeria.
This and different plans are focused at rising oil and gasoline manufacturing and increasing international change era for the federal government and different stakeholders. As Engr. Komolafe disclosed on the just-concluded Petroleum Know-how Affiliation of Nigeria (PETAN) Sub-Saharan Africa Worldwide Petroleum Exhibition and Convention in Lagos, the operations of the company will proceed to be pushed by trendy expertise, improved transparency in hydrocarbon measurement and accounting, and collaborative work programme administration with the exploration and manufacturing firms.
Learn additionally: Nigeria has potential to produce 2.2m oil bpd – NUPRC boss
Certainly, the deliberate motion of discipline officers to Lagos needs to be endorsed and supported by everybody, because it guarantees to not solely convey NUPRC a lot nearer to the oil and gasoline firms and different stakeholders but additionally place the company to function extra effectively whereas minimising prices and maximising returns to the federal government and nation.
Ibrahim Musa is a Lagos-based vitality analyst.
