Nigerian press spotlights unveiling of draft regulations for upstream oil operations, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Nigerian Government, on Monday, unveiled seven additional draft regulations to improve operational and regulatory efficiency in the upstream arm of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian Government, on Monday, unveiled seven additional draft regulations to improve operational and regulatory efficiency in the upstream arm of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
It unveiled the draft regulations through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and also engaged stakeholders in Abuja at the fourth phase of consultations to obtain their inputs in finalising the laws.
The Chief Executive Officer, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, said the stakeholders consultation was in line with section 216 (1) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires the commission to consult with stakeholders prior to finalising regulations or amendments to regulations.
Komolafe, who was represented by Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulation and Planning, Kelechi Ofoegbu, said one of the objectives of the PIA was to foster a business environment conducive for petroleum operations.
He said the best way to actualise this objective was by establishing a framework for the economic regulation of commercial operations in upstream oil and gas ventures.
“This can be seen in NUPRC’s efforts to ensure that regulations and key policies necessitated by the PIA are developed and gazetted timely so that the industry operators can align their operations with the PIA provisions as quickly as possible,” he stated.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian Government, on Monday, denied reintroducing the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, amid the closure of many filling stations nationwide due to various challenges in the downstream oil sector.
It also said the pockets of queues observed by motorists in petrol stations across the country stemmed from hiccups in product distribution from the South to the North, not a lack of supply.
This came as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited also declared on Monday that it would have gone bankrupt in June this year had it been the President, Bola Tinubu, did not halt subsidy on PMS in May.
NNPCL also announced that Nigeria would become a net exporter of refined petroleum products by next year, going by efforts to revamp its refineries.
Nigeria, through the NNPCL, currently imports PMS and other refined petroleum products consumed across the country, which has been ongoing for decades.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, told State House Correspondents after an audience with the President at the Aso Rock Villa that fuel subsidy had not been returned.
“No subsidy whatsoever. We are recovering our full cost from the products that we import. We sell to the market, and we understand why the marketers are unable to import. We hope that they do it very quickly and these are some of the interventions the government is doing. There is no subsidy,” he stated.
The Guardian reports that 25 licenses given to companies for establishment of refineries in the last 10 years remain dormant.
The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday, at a summit organised by Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
“As of today, close to 25 licenses issued to companies to establish refineries are dormant. As long as we do not have certainty around pricing, no one will put in his money. And as long as we have arbitrage, things will be difficult,” Kyari said.
Speaking on allegations of corruption in the oil sector, he explained that once the price differential between one location and another is substantial, fraud is not unlikely.
“People will do everything possible to move products between locations; whatever it is, whether it is drugs or petroleum. This will happen, and people will cut corners as long as the market does not determine prices,” he said.
“Should the market always determine the price of commodities? Yes. But should it be managed? I agree. And that is what a framework of managing pricing can do for a country,” Kyari noted.
He added that every country has one form of subsidy or the other, and there is no reason the Nigerian government should not implement one.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, who lamented the impact of subsidy removal and floating of naira-dollar exchange rates on workers, said both policy decisions only benefitted the government and oil and gas companies in Nigeria.
He urged the Federal Government to follow the steps of Angola, which is paying its workers’ salaries in dollar equivalent to prevent erosion of income by inflation.
The newspaper says that tension has gripped the people of Benue State, as news of the release of excess water from Lagdo Dam by Cameroonian authorities hit the state.
Principal Special Assistant (Media and Publicity/Strategic Communications) to the Governor, Bridget Ikyado, yesterday, quoted the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), as saying that the states, where flooding is being expected, include Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Anambra, Edo, Delta and Bayelsa.
According to the statement, the nine states, which have communities along the banks of River Benue, may be affected by the excess water from Lagdo Dam, which is expected to last till the end of October.
Ikyado noted that NEMA Director-General, Mustapha Ahmed, had also cautioned states and local councils along the River Niger and Benue basins to immediately activate their emergency response plans to avert colossal damage.
When The Guardian contacted the Executive Secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), James Iorpuu, he said the state government was still mapping out modalities and would communicate to the public today.
He, however, assured that the government was not resting on its oars, and that modalities were in the pipeline to cushion the effect of the impending flood.
Amid the prediction of flood in nine states, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has asked the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), National Orientation Agency (NOA) to utilise the Ecological Fund to ensure prompt coordination and improve public awareness.
Country Director of AAN, Andrew Mamedu, stated that with glaring negligence of erosion and other disaster-prone zones across various states, despite significant allocations from the Ecological Fund, the group “demands immediate and comprehensive review” of the fund’s utilisation.
It also called for urgent deployment of the fund for immediate emergency response and prevention of future disasters.
GIK/APA