Cynthia Ezegwu
Three key government institutions in Nigeria’s petroleum sector — the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) — have rejected the proposed bill seeking to establish the National Commission for the Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Installations (NC-DOGI).
Their opposition was made known during a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) in Abuja. The session, held to consider the National Commission for the Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Installations Bill, 2024, drew submissions from top officials including the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, and NUPRC Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe.
In a statement signed by NUPRC’s Head of Corporate Communications and Media, Eniola Akinkuotu, the commission maintained that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 already provides a comprehensive framework for decommissioning and abandonment activities, making the proposed new agency redundant and potentially disruptive.
Lokpobiri argued that the new commission would duplicate the functions of existing regulators, particularly the NUPRC, and risk driving away investors by introducing regulatory uncertainty.
“Creating a commission for decommissioning and abandonment will not solve community issues, as these are already addressed by the Host Community Development Trust Fund, which has generated nearly ₦400 billion for community projects,” the minister said.
He further urged lawmakers to shelve the bill, stressing that a predictable and stable regulatory environment remains crucial to sustaining investor confidence in the oil and gas sector.
In his remarks, Komolafe described the proposal as inconsistent with global best practices, where decommissioning oversight is typically domiciled within the upstream regulator. He warned that separating decommissioning from field development planning could compromise regulatory efficiency.
“Decommissioning is an integral part of the Field Development Plan (FDP). Splitting these responsibilities would disrupt oversight and undermine the objectives of the PIA,” he stated.
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The NNPC’s Executive Vice-President (Upstream), Udobong Ntia, also rejected the bill, noting that decommissioning activities are infrequent and occur only at the end of a field’s productive life.
“What will such a commission be doing when the NNPC, for instance, has no decommissioning activity scheduled until 2045?” he queried.
Earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said the bill was conceived to address environmental challenges and community concerns in oil-producing regions.
The committee is expected to review all stakeholder submissions before making recommendations to the National Assembly.