The House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled plans to investigate ongoing assets divestment by international oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region of the country, with a view to ascertain the level of compliance with the decommissioning and abandonment guidelines of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.procedures are in tandem with global best practice, Hon. Ugochinyere applauded the Commission, particularly its Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe for his visionary leadership.
He however lamented that “most of the international oil companies involved in petrol operations in the country are closing up their petroleum operations in Nigeria and relocating out of the country, without clearly following or complying with the decommissioning and abandonment guidelines as prescribed by NUPRC and enshrined in the PIA.
“The House is also aware that most of the international oil companies are divesting their company assets in Nigeria and relocating out of the country, without clearly following or complying with the decommissioning and abandonment guidelines as prescribed by NUPRC and as enshrined in the PIA.
“The House is concerned that as a result of the exploration and other activities of the international oil companies in the Niger Delta, the region has suffered great environmental degradation for years, with farmlands and water bodies being destroyed, leaving the communities’ ecosystems completely milked and irreparably exploited.
“The House is worried that if consent is given for the divestment of the assets of the international oil companies (IOCs) without ensuring their compliance with the guidelines and regulations put in place, the host communities will suffer irredeemably, and the companies taking over the assets of the IOCs will not be able to remedy the degradation.”
To this end, the House urged the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil) and NUPRC Chief Executive Officer to refrain from granting consent to divesting international oil companies (IOCs) until there is full compliance with the Guidelines for Decommissioning, as well as the Regulations made pursuant to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Hence, the House mandated the joint Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Petroleum Resources (Midstream), Host Communities, Gas Resources, Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Environment to investigate the level of compliance with the Decommissioning and Abandonment Guidelines of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, and report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.
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