By Christiana Ekpa
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Decomissioning and Abandonment in the oil sector has alleged that the non-compliance to provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and other extant laws by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is a major impediment.
It stated this following submissions by the officials of NUPRC and the NMDPRA at the resumed investigative hearing of the committee held at the National Assembly.
The representatives of the two agencies who represented their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) presented letters authorising them to stand in for their bosses.
The Chief Executive, NUPRC, Eng. Farouk Ahmed was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Development and Production Engineering, Enorense Amadasu.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer, NMDPRA, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe was represented by the Executive Director of Health, Safety, Environment and Communities, Dr. Mustafa Lamorde
It could be recalled that the House had inaugurated the committee to investigate operators’ and regulators adherence to the PIA in decommissioning and abandonment (D&A).
The probe stems from concerns over a significant funding gap of about $20 billion and as well as environmental and fiscal risks from aging assets, scrutinises companies’ D&A plans, financial provisions like escrow accounts and regulatory enforcement by agencies like NUPRC and NMDPRA and to protect communities and the environment from liabilities of abandoned infrastructure.
In their separate submissions, the NUPRC represented by Engineer Enorense Amadasu and the NMDPRA represented by Dr Mustapha Lamorde informed the committee that many factors have caused delays in the implementation of the regulations in the D&A in the oil sector despite the provisions in the PIA.
They also cited some legal technicalities in the Ministry of Justice, issues with responsibility of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Escrow accounts as well as other challenges.
