Upstream petroleum regulator, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has facilitated the approval of all divestment applications it received and the regulator has posted a record 184.2 per cent revenue generation performance for the federal government......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
These achievements were disclosed by the Commission Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe.
During the presentation titled ‘NUPRC Reform Initiatives and Achievements Under The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR’, Komolafe further revealed the successful remittance of N261bn to host communities through the Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT).
The Commission was birthed by the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 (PIA) to make regulations, grow reserves and production, determine and collect royalties for the government as well as implement the Hostcom Provisions of Section 234 (2) of the PIA, among others.
Experts believe that the NUPRC under Komolafe is navigating the industry’s challenges and delivering the objectives of the PIA for the nation and the benefit for all stakeholders.
Since its birth in 2021, NUPRC has issued 24 regulations out of which 17 have been gazetted while seven are awaiting gazetting.
In past years, issues surrounding the divestment of assets were a major setback due to regulatory challenges, however, industry experts have said that divestments are now properly managed.
Komolafe revealed last year that the Commission received an application for five divestment transactions.
“Currently, we have processed four of the transactions, and four of them have received ministerial consent,” he said at the launch of the One Million Barrels Per Day Production Initiative.
The four earlier approved transactions were in respect to Equinor- Project Odinmim, the transaction in respect to MPNU/Seplat, the transaction in respect to 10 per cent divestment of Total Energies/ Telema Energies has received ministerial consent.
The fourth was NAOC-OANDO divestment, which also received ministerial approval last year.
In a fresh development, the NUPRC boss disclosed in his presentation that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (SPDC-RENAISSANCE) divestment has also received ministerial approval.
Komolafe said the approvals were made “Honouring the Principle of ‘Free Entry; Free Exit” in the oil and gas sector.
The NUPRC also disclosed a record revenue performance where it surpassed its previous record.
THE WHISTLER can report that NUPRC recorded 184.26 per cent surge in revenue generation and performance as against the target set for it in 2024.
Historically, NUPRC in 2020 achieved 109.4 per cent performance; in 2021 it recorded 95 per cent performance and 2022, the regulator recorded 118.3 per cent performance which are all below the new record set.
Komolafe further highlighted the efforts made in combating oil theft, which has resulted in increased crude oil production.
Komolafe said, oil theft averaged 108 kbpd in Q1 2022 resulting in the shutdown of trunklines (TNP, TFP and NCTL), among others.
Consequently, production dropped to as low as 1.1mbpd in September 2022 leading to a loss of 600,000 barrels per day (kbpd) due to the shutdown of the trunklines.
NUPRC disclosed that the “oil theft has significantly reduced due to the ongoing kinetic and non-kinetic intervention by the Government.
“The oil theft which averaged about 12kbpd in the last 24 months further reduced to 5 kbpd in the last quarter. Whereas the production fluctuated around 1.5mbpd, the sustained fight against oil theft has resulted in steady
increase in production.
“We are able to restore and sustain the production to the
1.754mbpd. Efforts are ongoing to increase the production by one mbpd by December 2026″
With the current initiative to raise production by one million barrels per day, the NUPRC disclosed that it is targeting 2,462,892 BPD by 2026.
Through the NUPRC’s regulatory oversight, rig activities has increased. Between 2019 and January 2025, the NUPRC has grown the country’s active rigs from 18 to 34, following the implementation of the PIA 2021.
As part of the provisions of the PIA 2021, NUPRC said 138 Host Community Development Trusts (HCDT) have been incorporated while Settlors are currently 83.
The NUPRC disclosed that it has facilitated the release of N78.8bn in naira while $122m (N183bn) has been remitted in foreign currency totaling N261.88bn.
ENDS