By Progress Godfrey, Abuja
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said it is committed to ensuring effective implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA 2021), to improve the current state of the economy.
Mr Gbenga Komolafe, Commission Chief Executive (CCE), NUPRC, stated this during an engagement with stakeholders in the oil and gas sector – Exploration and Production Companies on Domestic Crude Supply Obligation (DCSO), in Abuja on Wednesday.
Komolafe expressed worries that despite being an oil-producing nation, Nigeria was a net exporter of crude oil, and a net importer of refined products.
According to him, the inability of the country to meet its domestic production benchmark has impacted negatively on the economy, especially with the subsidy regime.
He said the stakeholder engagement was important to look at the implementation of another milestone in the PIA, towards improving the domestic refining requirements and becoming a net exporter of refined products.
He said, “You will recall that Nigeria is the second largest oil producer in Africa, seventh in the OPEC, and of course in the world, we are rated as a nation with huge oil reserves – 38 billion barrels of crude oil reserve. So we are blessed as a nation, but ironically, in spite of all these abundant reserves, paradoxically, we are a net exporter of crude oil and a net importer of refined products. And from the data, we are all aware that our inability to meet our domestic refining obligations has impacted negatively on the state of the economy.
“For us as a commission, we felt that it is important that we engage the industry as we are trying to implement this legal provisions of the PIA and that is the Domestic Crude oil Obligation, as enshrined in the provisions of PIA.
“As the pioneer regulator of the upstream sector, we want effective implementation of the relevant sections of the PIA, and we cannot shy away from it.
“We are committed to the effective implementation of the PIA in the interest of our industry and our dear nation.”
The commission said it will ensure that important sections of the PIA that affect its operations are implemented, including the Domestic Crude Oil Supply to licensed refineries in Nigeria.
“As a regulatory body we will regulate in line with the provisions of the Act and whatever decision we take will be in line with the law to ensure growth and development.
“We all understand that if we’re able to meet our domestic refining obligations, we will be able to impact lightly on some of the attendant costs in pricing the refined product. So it behooves us all as an industry to find a way to make Nigeria a net exporter of refined product and that is the issue that we gathered here today to address as an industry,” he said.
Komolafe, however, urged industry operators to maintain best practices and adhere to provisions of the law, adding that defaulters would be sanctioned, as this is a federal government reform aimed at remedying Nigeria’s economic crisis.