NMDPRA Directs Operators to Adhere to Regulatory Guidelines
“The PIA has also required us to always sit down and consult with stakeholders. Each time we want to draft gazette regulations because as a feedback loop, the responses we get from them enrich that and so we carry everybody along, and the outcome is regulations.
“Regulations by themselves are not just to operationalize and give more details to the provisions of the law, but in particular, it ought also to be complied with by operators and that is where we stand today, working with operators to finalize these regulations in the hope that within that value chain when we operationalize it, rather than consistently, unfortunately, the strong case that operators by themselves, by their own free will, will also comply with those regulations.”
Ukoha said the regulations speak to competition and corporate governance within the sector, adding that the move would improve the sector.
According to him, the regulator is banking on the move to bring more sanity within the value chain. He noted that the seven regulations would speak to data repository, suppression of licenses and confiscation and how to deal with confiscated assets.
In his paper presentation, the Authority Secretary and Legal Adviser, Dr. Joseph Tolorunse, explained that the regulation would provide sanctions and penalties for non-compliance.
He said: “The regulations apply to companies undertaking midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria. The authority may designate the midstream and downstream companies to which these regulations shall apply provided the companies operate designated facilities as provided under the Act.
“The regulations establish the midstream and downstream petroleum data repository in the authority and provide procedures for the submission, collection, and management of technical data in the Repository. It provides sanctions and penalties for non-compliance.”
