Nigeria scraps regulatory agencies as part of oil sector reform

By Olarewaju Kola

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria on Tuesday announced the scrapping of its three leading petroleum regulatory agencies to pave the way for recently established departments.

Speaking in the capital Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva announced the scrapping of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) as part of the new petroleum law, the Petroleum Industry Act, enacted in August.

"These agencies will no longer exist," Sylva said.

The Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NPRA) will now assume the functions of the defunct agencies, he said.

He assured that the reform would not affect workers of the three agencies though their chief executive officers have to leave.

In August, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Petroleum Industry Act (2021) into law which allows reforms in the oil sector, including the establishment of new departments.

Nigeria is among the leading producers in Africa of petroleum, which accounts for a major portion of its revenues.