October 19, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has officially scrapped the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF).
Following the passage and implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Upstream Regulatory Commission and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NPRA) are to perform the duties of the three defunct agencies.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, made these known on Monday while speaking on the side-lines of the inauguration of the boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission in Abuja.
The move also includes the official transition of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into NNPC Limited to be governed by an extant company and allied matter regulation.
Speaking at the official transition in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, as well as Head of the upstream commission, Gbenga Komolafe and NPRA Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed, predicted improved investments to leapfrog the nation’s oil sector.
According to them, stakeholders are also considering ways to engage oil companies amid divestment of portfolios, stressing that the country would drastically drive improvement in daily production and crude oil reserves.
Sylva said with the leadership of the new agencies in place, the heads of the old agencies are now technically handing over to their successors.
Responding to a question on what would happen to DPR following the inauguration of the board of Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC), Sylva said, “It is now a matter of law.
“The law states that all the assets and even the staff of the DPR are to be invested on the commission and also in the authority. So that means the DPR doesn’t exist anymore.
“And, of course, the law specifically repeals the DPR Act, the Petroleum Inspectorate Act, the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Act and the PPPRA Act. The law specifically repeals them. It is very clear that those agencies do not exist anymore.”
On what would happen to the chief executives and employees of DPR, PEF and PPPRA, the minister replied, “The law also provides for the staff and the jobs in those agencies to be protected.
“But I’m sure that that doesn’t cover, unfortunately, the chief executives, who were on political appointments.”
He stated that the process for aligning the workers of the defunct agencies with the new regulatory bodies had already commenced, as the staff had to be rationalised.
Sylva said, “The authority has its staff coming from the defunct PEF, PPPRA and DPR. The commission has staff coming over from DPR and the process is going on for the next few weeks.”
Sylva stated that the inauguration of the boards on Monday marked the beginning of the successor agencies.
He said, “The PIA provides for the upstream regulatory commission and the establishment of the midstream and downstream authority.
“So far, the chief executives of these agencies have not been in place, but of course, Mr President in his wisdom made the appointment a few weeks ago and they went through a rigorous process of confirmation at the National Assembly.
“The agencies have now taken off because they now have clear leadership and today’s event marks that beginning for the new agencies.”
He further stated that with the passage of the PIA into law, after spending over 20 years in the process, the coast was now clear for investors to fully invest in Nigeria’s oil sector.
“Today, the PIA has clarified the legal framework around the sector and the agencies are now in place. So I don’t see anything now stopping investors from coming”, adding that competent hands were now handling the business.
“Nigerians should brace up for exponential growth in the oil and gas sector.”
“I am really expecting a lot of growth and development in the oil industry. The oil industry has been stagnated for a long time because the process of passing the PIA was on for over 20 years.
“So a lot of companies, a lot of investors took a sit-down-and-watch approach. The PIA has clarified the legal framework around the sector and the agencies are in place. I don’t see anything now stopping investors from coming.
“And we are very lucky to have very competent industry people with proven experiences. So, we believe that they can hit the ground running and Nigerians should brace up for exponential growth in the oil and gas sector”, he said.
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