What is the role of the NUPRC?

The Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) was established to address critical challenges in the Nigerian petroleum industry. Its key objectives include improving public governance, clarifying roles among policy, regulatory, and commercial functions, and enhancing industry competitiveness for investment. The NUPRC’s primary responsibilities involve regulating, monitoring, and enabling activities in the upstream sector. It ensures compliance with technical and commercial rules, environmental standards, and safety practices. As a 21st-century regulator, the NUPRC aims to create value transparently, ethically, and sustainably for Nigerians and stakeholders.

Can you share more on ongoing and recent IOC divestments the NUPRC has approved? 

We were able to review examples of countries that were not afraid to divest and had very bad experiences. We looked at examples of Lebanon, Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. As a country, and as a regulator, we do not want that to happen for our nation. While we recognize the right of investors to do their best, the security of the national interest must be guaranteed. It is within the interests of regulators to encourage free entry and exit for foreign investors – we operate on the basis of this principle, using our framework consisting of seven pillars. The objective is that the seller will ensure that the buyer is able to demonstrate financial capacity, technical capability, and no legal encumbrances. Issues of decommissioning and abandonment will be well situated so that the nation does not end up carrying an unintended burden.   

As for the four topical transactions, I’m happy to announce two have been completed: the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to Oando, and Equinor to Project Odinmim. As regards the direction of SPDC to Renaissance Consortium, the status is that the regulator has received the documentation and is currently undergoing the necessary due diligence. On the MPN to Seplat transaction the regulator is yet to receive the documentation for due diligence.

What is the NUPRC’s relationship with industry organizations such as PETAN and how is it working to address the challenges faced by indigenous service providers?

PETAN as a body has made the Nigerian oil and gas industry proud. We are appreciative of PETAN’s efforts and support their activities. We are happy to see PETAN members export their expertise beyond Nigeria’s borders to help other African nations unlock their capabilities. We continue to recognize them as a critical stakeholder and we are doing everything possible in our power as a regulator to enhance their productivity. 

What can frontier African markets learn from regulators in more mature oil and gas markets like Nigeria?

Nigeria has a seven decade long history of oil and gas exploration and production; very few African nations can match this experience. We are looking at how we can act as a ‘big brother’ and make available our experiences to other African nations so they can learn from our mistakes over our decades-long hydrocarbon development journey. We have huge volumes of information that we can share with other regulators that will allow us to benchmark regulatory approaches. This is a core objective behind the formation of the African Petroleum Regulators Forum (AFRIPERF). Through AFRIPERF we hope to  collaborate, collectively unlock and de-risk the hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of hydrocarbon resources across Africa.