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•$46.16bn stolen crude unacceptable, says NEITI
From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), on Thursday, unveiled seven additional regulations, in a major step towards tackling oil theft, maximising the resource offerings of the petroleum sector and ultimately growing the nation’s economy.
The move was inspired by the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which empowers the Commission to design policy direction and regulations that will give meaning and intent to the spirit of the Act.
Already, five regulations had earlier been gazetted and published, while these seven are part of the 13 draft regulations presented for adoption by relevant stakeholders.
These operational documents cover the entire spectrum of oil and gas operations and seeks to create a harmonised ecosystem that will be beneficial to all stakeholders.
Speaking at the regulation signing in Abuja, NUPRC’s Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, listed the new regulations as; Upstream Petroleum Fees and Rents Regulations; Upstream Decommissioning and Abandonment Regulations; Unitization Regulations; Acreage Management (Drilling & Production) Regulations; Frontier Exploration Fund Administration Regulations; Upstream Environmental Remediation Fund Regulations; Upstream Petroleum Safety Regulations; Upstream Petroleum Environmental Regulations; Upstream Petroleum Measurement Regulations; Advance Cargo Declaration Regulations; Significant Discovery Regulations; Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligation Regulations; Gas Flaring and Venting (Prevention of Waste and Pollution) Regulations.
The five hitherto regulations gazetted into law between June and October 2022 are; Petroleum Licensing Round Regulations 2022; Petroleum Royalty Regulations 2022; Domestic Gas Delivery Obligations Regulations 2022; Conversion and Renewal (Licences and Lease); Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Host Communities Development Regulations 2022.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, extolled the NUPRC boss for his tenacious spirit in accomplishing the task, assuring him of his agency’s support at all times.
He reiterated that between 2009-2020, 619.7 million barrels of crude valued at $46.16 billion or N16.25 trillion was either stolen or unaccounted for.
“No nation can survive under this sort of arrangement and yet we keep borrowing for infrastructure, education, etc. Other agencies captured in the PIA should emulate the NUPRC”, Dr Orji said.
While describing the development as unacceptable, he said the NUPRC and NEITI should close ranks to deepen transparency and push the boundaries of accountability. “We’ve exchanged data, even areas considered untouchable.
NEITI’s report shows that between 1956-7 when oil was founded, no law except directives was on ground to guide the sector.
