Oil & Gas
By Anthony Isibor
THE Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, has announced the gazette of yet another draft regulation on Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Host Community Development Trust regulations.
Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer, NUPRC, who announced the new regulation at the 2nd phase of consultation with stakeholders on draft regulations in Abuja on Monday, September 19, 2022, said that it was part of the Commission’s efforts towards ensuring an enabling environment for growth and investments in the Upstream Oil & Gas industry in Nigeria.
According to him, the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Host Community Development Trust regulations was among the six draft regulations presented for discussion during the 1st phase of the commission’s consultations with stakeholders in April this year.
“The inputs of the Stakeholders from the engagement were incorporated, where necessary, in the draft regulations. Thereafter, the regulations were forwarded to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for vetting, legislative standardization, and approval,” he said.
He explained that the remaining five, which include Royalty Regulations, Domestic Gas Delivery Obligation Regulations, Nigeria Conversion & Renewal (Licence and Lease} Regulations, Petroleum Licensing Round Regulations, Upstream Petroleum Fees and Rents Regulations have been finalized and ready for gazetting.
He added that the commission will continue to ensure that key policies and regulations necessitated by the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, are developed and gazetted timely so that the industry operators can align their operations with the PIA provisions as quickly as possible.
Part of his statement read: “The inputs of the Stakeholders from the engagement were incorporated, where necessary, in the draft regulations. Thereafter, the regulations were forwarded to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for vetting, legislative standardization, and approval. I am happy to inform you that One of the regulations.
“It is a great honour and privilege to welcome you to the 2nd Phase of our Consultation with Stakeholders on regulations development as mandated by Section 216 of the PIA.
In furtherance of the above and in compliance with Section 216(4)(g) of the PIA 2021, the Commission is holding yet another Stakeholder Consultation today prior to finalizing the following draft regulations:
1. Acreage Management (Drilling & Production) Regulations
2. Upstream Petroleum Environmental Regulations
3. Upstream Petroleum Environmental Remediation Fund
Regulations
4. Upstream Petroleum Safety Regulations
5. Unitization Regulations
6. Upstream Petroleum Decommissioning & Abandonment
Regulations
7. Frontier Exploration Fund Regulations
“Please permit me to reiterate that the process of formulating the above regulations has been a rigorous and strenuous exercise. They are products of critical thinking and evaluation, and hard work by the Commission’s Regulation development Team and the Presidential Implementation Committee on PIA.
Despite this, however, the process is not complete until the Stakeholders’ critical inputs are obtained, discussed, and incorporated, where necessary, in the Regulations.
“To this end, I am of the firm view that with the level of turnout today, we will have healthy, robust, and intellectual discussion on the Regulations during the syndicate sessions to come out with robust regulations with best international best standard.
“In conclusion, this phase in our regulations development is by no means a final or exhaustive one in our drive to support the upstream industry operators.
“The Commission will continue to embark on programmes and policies that will create enabling environment for growth and more investments in the Nigerian upstream oil and gas sector.”
A.I
Tags: Gbenga Komolafe Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Host Community Development Trust regulations NUPRC
