The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says it is working to ensure issuance of midstream and downstream petroleum regulations soon for industry’s growth.
The authority said that when the regulations were finally published, they would be required to be gazetted by the Ministry of Justice.
Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the end of its stakeholders’ consultation forum on regulations.
The forum which opened on August 1, was attended by stakeholders from Chevron, Total energies and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria among others to bequeath the industry with laws and policies to enable investment in the sector.
The 10 regulations considered by the stakeholders were; Gas Pricing, Domestic Demand and Delivery Regulations; Natural Gas Pipeline Tariff Regulations and Midstream and Downstream Decommissioning and Abandonment Regulations.
The regulations included Environmental Regulations For Midstream And Downstream Petroleum Operations In Nigeria; Midstream and Downstream Environmental Remediation Fund Regulations and Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund Regulations.
Others are Petroleum (Transportation And Shipment) Regulations; Assignment and Transfer of Licences and Permits Regulations; Petroleum Pipeline Regulations and Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Operations Regulations.
Ukoha said the first traditional requirement of the authority as regulator was to engage with stakeholders to propose draft regulations to people, consult them and review their feedbacks before issuing the regulations.
He said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA 2021) also captured this process and required that it has to publish it 21 days after then invite the stakeholders to listen and make considerations.
“So we released 10 draft regulations across board and two more draft regulations but the consultation we were just concluding was for the 10 regulations.
“We got rich and intensed feedback from stakeholders, what is left for us to do now is to go back and reflect on it and utilise the good part ultimately for the benefit of Nigerians and growth of the industry.
“The reviewed regulations will be forwarded to the ministry after for gazetting,” he said.
He said the regulations which were published online firstly got hundreds of rich written responses from stakeholders while the three syndicates group looked into them then considerations were made and challenges clarified.
