Against the backdrop of rising cases of multiple regulation in the oil and gas industry, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc. have warned that the trend signals looming danger for the sector.
DPR Director, Mr. Osten Olorunisola, and the Managing Director, Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc., Dr. Layi Fatona, regretted that many government agencies have imposed regulatory oversight on the oil and gas industry under the guise of been environmental or maritime regulators, among others. This development, the two experts warned, would not augur well for the industry, even after the Petroleum Industry Bill has been passed.
Fatona, who was one of the panelists at a session organized by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, feared that the PIB, when passed into law, would create an unprecedented number of regulatory authorities in the oil and gas industry. He said: “But I want to sound a note of warning, we are seeing the creeping-in of micro regulators into the oil and gas industry and this will only lead to high cost of operations. This is not particularly good for the small indigenous operators in the country.”
According to him, activities of some Federal and state ministries of environment, commerce, and the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, among others, amount to multiple regulation in the oil and gas industry. Olorunisola, the DPR director who lent credence to Fatona’s position, noted that it was true that people had, over time, entered the oil and gas industry ‘from the back door either disguising themselves as environmental or marine regulator.’
The Sun