The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, said yesterday it was working to ensure collaboration with industry regulators and stakeholders to attract businesses in the sector, amid divestment.
The commission also said it was implementing the Upstream Asset Divestment Framework to guide the seamlessly non-destructive exit of divesting entities and promote sustainable operation for the acquiring parties.
Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Gbenga Komolafe, who disclosed this at the Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition, NAICE, 2024, in Lagos, said this was all in the overriding national interest.
Speaking on the theme of the event, ”Petroleum Industry Value Chain Optimisation: The Inevitability of Midstream and Downstream Development”, Komolafe said the commission was pursuing collaboration with sister agencies, such as the NMDPRA, and other key stakeholders, to deepen end-to-end value in critical areas of operations.
To ensure robust development of oil and gas midstream operations, he said the commission would strengthen alignments on the administration of the domestic crude supply obligation and the domestic gas delivery obligation to grow the sector consistently with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
He expressed confidence that commission’s effort to foster regulatory alignments in this respect would stimulate further activities for domestic energy security in the shelter, insisting that the commission would not rest on its oars.
Komolafe said: “We are committed to entrenching collaboration for enhanced value to the industry and the nation at large, as we deliberate on the strategies and innovative approaches that will prepare the industry forward, let us remember that the optimisation of the midstream and downstream segments is not merely an option but inevitability.
“By focusing on this area, we can mitigate the risks associated with market volatility, enhance the refining capacities, and ensure a more stable and efficient energy security for our nation in the world undergoing change.
“No matter what individual views may be, the world is on the energy transition course, hence, dividend of the in-country value from the oil and gas resources via a midstream and a downstream operation is highly imperative’.”
The NUPRC boss disclosed that the commission had made deliberate and conscious efforts to position the upstream appropriately through the implementation of the ongoing regulatory framework for upstream decarbonisation and carbon monetisation in Nigeria.
He noted that the commission was championing decarbonisation initiatives to sustain and grow investments in upstream oil and gas, while ensuring environmental, social, and governance principles.
In his remarks, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, said the NNPCL was putting in place the required infrastructure required to deepen domestic gas utilisation. According to him, the obligation for domestic gas supply and also domestic supply of crude oil into the country is by no means designed to ensure things worked for the industry.
