NUPRC Chief calls for establishment of African Petroleum Regulatory Forum

The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe has called for the establishment of African Petroleum Regulatory Forum.

Komolafe made this known while delivering an address at the Annual PETAN Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC)

The conference was themed: “The Next Steps: Accelerating African Content.”

Speaking, the NUPRC Chief said with over 125 billion barrels of oil and 620 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves as well as other natural resource potentials.

“Africa is richly endowed with resources, but we must re-examine our strategies and respond through deliberate policies and programmes that suit our regional circumstances given the evolving global energy landscape.” He said.

Speaking further, Komolafe noted that the time has come for African Petroleum Regulatory Agencies to come together to discuss our common challenges with a view to achieving our common objectives.

“At the heart of this vision is the need to establish the African Petroleum Regulatory Forum (AFRIPERF) to work collaboratively in shaping the regulatory landscape of Africa as well as have a unified voice for stronger and more influential representation on the global stage.

“It is our hope that the framework for the AFRIPERF engagement will be set-up in the course of this Conference to set the stage for future periodic meetings that will culminate in numerous benefits including entrenching best practices and regulatory stewardship, facilitating knowledge sharing and technology transfer, attracting investment and enhancing global competitiveness etc,” he explained.

Commenting on Nigeria’s oil production, Komolafe said the Commission is taking strategic measures to arrest some challenges confronting it in order to boost the country’s production and meet its potential.

He identified measures to improve transparency in hydrocarbon measurement and accounting as some of the steps the agency is taking to boost oil production.

“Collaborative work programme administration with the E & P companies, and close monitoring to ensure that they meet their work programme obligations,  Acceleration of field developments (FDPs) through timely approvals and ensuring speedy execution, Production optimisation by ensuring wells are tested periodically and produced at optimal rates, identifying candidate wells for workover and interventions and adoption of Enhanced Oil Recovery processes and technologies,” were some of the strategies enumerated by Komolafe.