Nigerian Oil Regulator Rejects New Decommissioning Commission
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has officially opposed a bill to create a new agency for decommissioning oil and gas facilities. The bill, which proposes the National Commission for Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Installations (NC-DOGI), was debated at a public hearing in Abuja. The NUPRC argued that the new commission is unnecessary and would duplicate existing efforts. The House Committee Chairman, Rep. Ado Doguwa, acknowledged that decommissioning old oil facilities is a major challenge for Nigeria. He stated that these abandoned sites have serious environmental, economic, and social impacts on host communities. However, the NUPRC responded that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021 already gives it and another agency, the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the full responsibility for decommissioning. In a submitted memo, the NUPRC stated that creating a new body would go […]