The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has stated that efforts are being made to ensure the prompt issue of midstream and downstream petroleum rules.
At the conclusion of the stakeholders’ consultative forum on regulations, Ogbugo Ukoha, Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, revealed this in Abuja.
Ukoha intimated that the Federal Ministry of Justice would gazette the regulations after they had been published, outlining the procedures that must be followed before they would go into effect.
Gas pricing, domestic demand and delivery rules, natural gas pipeline tariff regulations, and midstream and downstream decommissioning and abandonment regulations were among the ten regulations that the stakeholders took into account.
The rules covered Midstream and Downstream Environmental Remediation Fund Regulations, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund Regulations, and Environmental Regulations for Midstream And Downstream Petroleum Operations in Nigeria.
Other regulations include those governing petroleum (transport and shipment), assignment and transfer of licenses and permits, petroleum pipelines, and midstream and downstream petroleum operations.
According to Ukoha, engaging with stakeholders to provide draft regulations to significant stakeholders and seeking their input before issuing the regulations is the authority’s first customary responsibility as a regulator.
He asserted that the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 specified the procedure and made it mandatory, adding that the NMDPRA was needed to publish the regulations and send out invitations to the stakeholders for comment and listening after a period of 21 days.
“So, we released two more draft regulations and 10 overall draft regulations, but the consultation we were just wrapping up was for the 10 regulations,” he continued.
“We received extensive and detailed feedback from stakeholders; the next step is for us to go back and dwell on it, using the positive parts to eventually advance Nigerians and the industry. The revised regulations will then be sent to the ministry of justice, where they will be published in the official gazette.
According to Ukoha, the three syndicates group established at the conference highlighted concerns and obstacles while the regulations, which were published online, received hundreds of detailed written replies from stakeholders.
The authority was conscious of the deadline established by the PIA, according to the Executive Director.
