Page 10 - DMEA Week 43 2021

DMEA POLICY & SECURITY DMEA

Nigeria establishes new agencies

to oversee oil and gas sector

AFRICA THE Nigerian government has made major become operational on October 18, less than two
changes to the line-up of agencies responsible weeks after Nigeria’s Senate approved President
for overseeing the oil and gas industry, in line Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees for manage-
with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry ment positions – chairpersons, board members
Act (PIA) passed earlier this year. and commissioners.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources All DPR, PEF and PPPRA staff have been
Timipre Sylva announced the changes last week, retained by the new agencies, he added.
noting that Abuja had established two new insti- “[We] are very lucky to have very competent
tutions to monitor and regulate the country’s industry personnel with proven experience,” he
hydrocarbon industry. commented. “So we believe that they can hit the
One of these, he explained, is the Nigerian ground running, and Nigerians should brace up
Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC), for exponential growth in the sector.”
which will replace the Department of Petroleum NURC will be headed by CEO Gbenga
Resources (DPR). Komolafe, while Farouk Ahmed will assume the
Meanwhile, he stated, the Nigerian Down- equivalent post at NPRA.
stream and Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Komolafe has already said he is committed
Authority (NPRA) will assume the duties previ- to seeing Nigeria meet the 1.8mn barrel per day
ously performed by the Petroleum Equalisation (bpd) output quota that has been set by OPEC
Fund (PEF) and the Petroleum Products Pricing rather than continue to underproduce. Earlier
Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). this week, though, he said he saw NURC’s pri-
The minister expressed optimism about the mary task as increasing the country’s oil revenue,
changes, saying he expected the creation of the especially in the face of the mounting pressure to
new bodies to benefit the hydrocarbon sector. “I shift to lower-carbon fuels.
am really expecting a lot of growth and develop- “In the international community, we are at a
ment in the oil industry,” he said. “The industry very critical moment in the life of the industry,”
[has stagnated] for a long time because the pro- he said at a meeting with members of his man-
cess of passing the PIA [took] over 20 years.” agement team.
Sylva also pointed out that many interna- “We are coming in at a point when there is the
tional oil companies (IOCs) had adopted a energy transition from the fossil fuels to renewa-
wait-and-see approach, putting proposals for ble, which is competing.”
investment in Nigerian projects on hold until “It is competing with the need for the nation
the passage of a new law to replace the country’s to have increased revenue to fund our social
outdated and inadequate legal regime. budgeting and our critical infrastructure. So that
Now, though, the passage of the PIA and the itself places on us a challenge that really needs us
establishment of the new agencies had clarified to double our efforts, roll our sleeves and begin
matters, he said. to hit the ground running and meet the aspira-
He further stated that NURC and NPRA had tions of the nation.”™

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