The commission chief executive, NUPRC has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to advancing growth in the nation’s oil and gas sector. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan who stated this in Accra Ghana on tuesday at the opening session of the africa oil week declared that the passage of the petroleum industry act has given a new sense of direction for the country’s oil and gas sector, a development she said has helped boost investments in the sector.
Eyesan while speaking to the theme of the panel session, “Africa regulators and NOC Leadership debate” the commission chief executive said though there were initial challenges that followed the passage of the PIA arising from the challenges associated with COVID which stalled investment drive to the oil and gas sector at the time said despite these initial challenges, overtime, significant investments borne out of policy clarity which flowed from the PIA has helped redefined business decisions in Nigeria.
“The PIA was a turning point for us in Nigeria, the petroleum industry act is where we consolidated our regulations for the oil and gas industry to ensure that the institutions that we created them from where fit for purpose” Eyesan stated.
The commission chief executive who noted that between 2014 and 2020/21 Nigeria’s investment portfolio in tbe sector fell from about 26billion dollars to 2billion dollars said government interventions through reforms have helped brought stability and regulatory clarity which have all combined to bring about confidence to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. She also stated that the increased investment footprints in the upstream segment of the value chain is a further testament of Nigeria’s intensional approach to oil and gas reforms.
Speaking on lessons that could be learnt from the Nigerian experience, the NUPRC boss called on partner countries to create policy templates that could help drive stability within operating host communities areas, she said one of the dividends of the PIA was the creation of host community intervention funds for the development of these communities. She noted that before the advent of the legislation that birthed the PIA, agitations, vandalism of pipeline infrastructure were the order of the day in several host community centres particularly in Nigeria’s Niger delta areas, declaring that this has significantly reduced after the passage of the petroleum industry act.
On his part, Moustapha Bechir, who is senior technical advisor-upstream ministry of energy and petroleum, Mauritania in his presentation during the panel session noted that his country has long created policies to attract investment and declared that reforms designed to ensure investor confidence remain priority for his government. Another panelist from Liberia, Fabian Michael, President/CEO, National oil company of Liberia said his country will continue to work with the regulatory commission in Nigeria. Fabian who described Nigeria’s oil and gas industry as a shinning example for other countries within the continent said Nigeria’s long history in oil and gas business will continue to be a leaning curve for other countries within the continent to learn from.
