Petroleum Regulators Vow Reforms to Attract Investments

President Bola Tinubu’s nominees to lead Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies have pledged far-reaching reforms to curb value leakages, enforce discipline across the industry and attract new investments under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The nominees, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan for the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Saidu Mohammed for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), made the assurances on Thursday during their screening by the Senate shortly after plenary at Room 117.

Both nominees told lawmakers that their leadership would prioritise digitisation, strict contract enforcement, credible data management and accelerated gas development, as Nigeria seeks to reposition its oil and gas sector amid falling revenues and global energy transition challenges.

Eyesan, nominated to head the upstream regulator, said Nigeria was losing significant value due to poor data integration and continued dependence on manual processes in an increasingly digital global industry.

“We are still largely manual, while the world is moving at jet speed. Without digitisation and real-time data, you cannot truly understand what you are regulating, and you will continue to lose money,” she said, adding that effective regulation depends on accurate data, asset integrity monitoring and transparent systems.

She also stressed the importance of collaboration among regulators, operators and policymakers to resolve long-standing challenges in the upstream sector. “We must work with stakeholders, identify our pain points and tackle them together. That is how we make meaningful progress,” Eyesan said.

The NUPRC nominee assured senators that she would fully utilise the Petroleum Industry Act to attract new investments and keep Nigeria competitive in the global energy market, describing the legislation as a “valuable document” whose benefits hinge on effective implementation.