Reducing regulatory duplicity key to lowering oil sector costs — NUPRC Chief

The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC),Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan has harped on the reduction of regulatory duplicity to lower costs in the oil and gas sector.

The NUPRC Chief made this known when she met recently with a delegation from the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) led by the Director-General/CEO of NNRA, Dr. YauIdris; at the NUPRC headquarters recently.

Addressing the delegation, Eyesan said there was indeed a need to tackle regulatory gaps and the multiplicity of rules and regulations in the oil and gas industry in order to improve the ease of doing business.

“The only way we can safeguard investments is to reduce our cost of operations and when you have multiplicity of laws, the likelihood is that you will have higher costs because each law normally will come with its own fee and charges,” the NUPRC boss said.

Eyesan nominated senior officials from the Commission that will work closely with the NNRA on the task ahead.

“We have identified critical areas on both sides and we believe that as we collaborate, we can close existing gaps,” she said.

Responding, the DG of the NNRA stated that given that the upstream petroleum sector is one of the largest users of radioactive sources and ionizing and radiation-emitting equipment in Nigeria particularly for well logging, industrial radiography and nucleonic gauging the NNRA relies on the cooperation of the NUPRC in order to fulfil its mandate.

“The goal is a single window approach, where both agencies share information rather than requiring operators to submit the same data twice,” he said.

Idris further stated that since oil and gas extraction often brings Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) to the surface, the NNRA seeks the assistance of the Commission to ensure that operators conduct radiological impact assessments as part of their broader Environmental Impact Assessments while NORM management protocols are incorporated into the NUPRC’s environmental guidelines for the upstream sector.

Both institutions are also expected to collaborate in training and knowledge sharing in the area of radiation protection and safe operations.