An oilfield
A group known as Energy Reforms Advocates of Nigeria (ERAN) has rejected a bill to create a national commission for decommissioning of oil and gas installations.
The bill has passed second reading in the house of representatives and is being considered by the committee on petroleum resources (upstream).
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Abba Henry, ERAN executive director, said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021 is a robust legal and institutional framework which empowers the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulations Commission (NUPRC) to oversee the decommissioning, abandonment, and environmental restoration in the oil and gas sector, and the creation of a similar agency is tantamount to a waste of public funds.
“Nigeria is broke. Our debt is choking us. Yet some senators want to birth a brand-new commission that will swallow billions to watch old pipes rust,” Henry said.
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“We already have the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
“They have the staff, the laws, the labs, and the muscle to decommission any platform from Bonny to Forcados. Why create a third referee when the field already has two?”
Henry asked the national assembly to “kill the bill” and maintain oversight of decommissioning and abandonment within the existing petroleum regulatory framework.
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NUPRC opposed the bill during a public hearing last month.
