By Bassey Udo
Four years after its establishment, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says it you ft recorded landmark achievements in 16 key impact areas in the post-Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) era.
The Commission was created in August 2021 as the replacement for the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) with the mandate of regulating the technical and commercial operations of the upstream sector of the petroleum industry to enhance good governance, attract investment, and ensure sustainable development.
Despite a myriad of the legacy challenges inherited from the pre-PIA era, the Commission said its performance was highlighted by key high impact achievements recorded since its creation.
In terms of revenue, the Commission said despite fluctuations in oil production at home and crude oil prices at the international oil market, it exceeded its targets by 18.3 percent, 14.65 percent and 84.2 percent in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively, accounting for a significant growth in Nigeria’s economy.
In 2024, the Commission said it approved 41 Field Development Plans (FDP) for different operators with potential investment valued at about $20.55bn as against 38 approved in 2025 with potential investment of about $19.43bn.
Since its inception, the Commission said it facilitated crude oil production growth to the current average daily capacity of 1.65 million barrels per day, with expectation to further increase the volume with the Project One Million Barrels Per Day initiative aimed at raising the country’s output to 2.5 million barrels per day by 2027.
Under its supervision, the Commission said it transformed the country’s oil and gas licensing rounds, which lacked credibility, as the processes were previously characterised by opacity, corruption and undue political influences, to a fully digitalised exercise that enhanced transparency and accountability.
Devoid of any human interference, the process was described by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) as the most transparent bid round in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum history, as it leveraged on technology in line with global best practices.
To ensure the optimal utilisation of the country’s oil and gas assets and prevent dormant fields from tying down potential reserves, the Commission said it introduced the ‘Drill or Drop’ policy, which prescribes that unexplored acreages are to be relinquished in line with the PIA, 2021.
The policy succeeded in compelling complacent oil companies to take quick action in the development of about 400 dormant oil fields.
Besides, the Commission said it successfully encouraged the geometric rise in the rig count in the country’s upstream oil and gas sector, from eight in 2021 to 69 as of October 2, 2025.
This comprises 40 active rigs, eight on standby, five on warm stack, four on cold stack and 12 on the move, representing a 762.5 percent increase in four years.
The number, which is expected to grow further in the coming months is demonstration of a renewed investor confidence in Nigeria.
On divestments by multinational companies, the Commission said approvals valued at billions of dollars were recorded in 2024.
The divestments, the Commission said, were from the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to Oando Energy Resources; Equinor to Chappal Energies; Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to Seplat Energies, and Shell Development Company Nigeria Limited to Renaissance Africa Energy.
To give meaning to the intent of the PIA, 2021, the Commission said, in consultation with stakeholders, it developed 24 forward-thinking Regulations in the industry, to allow for transparency and creation of enabling investment climate and benchmark best practices, 19 of which have so far gazetted, while five others are still pending.
Under the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), the Commission said it completed awards of flare sites to successful bidders to help eliminate gas flaring and attract at least 2.5 billion dollars in investments.
To demonstrate its commitment to customer service in the industry, the Commission said it won Overall Best Performing Parastatal SERVICOM Unit (PSU) Award, along with the 2024 Best Performing PSU, along with the Team B Award 2025 as best Regulator, by the Nigerian Energy Correspondents aside over 60 awards from various organisations.
Besides, the Commission said under its supervision, the Host Community Development Trusts remitted N122.34bn, along with over $168.91m contribution as of October 2025, representing a combined remittance of over N358.67bn based on the prevalent exchange rate in enthroning a conducive host community environment in Nigeria.
In addition, the Commission said it supervised the execution of about 536 projects currently at various stages of completion, including schools, health centres, roads and vocational centres funded by the trust fund to curb the menace of crude oil theft.
As part of its mandate to develop the country’s hydrocarbon, the Commission said it recorded about 306 development wells drilled and completed between 2022 to date, while Nigeria’s first Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) was issued for a large offshore geophysical survey covering 56,000 km² of 3D seismic and gravity data.
Furthermore, the Commission said about 17,000 line-kilometres of 2D seismic data and 28,000 square kilometres of 3D seismic data, producing sharper, higher-resolution images of the country’s petroleum systems were produced to help reduce the uncertainties that once hindered exploration decisions.
Other data acquisition include 11,300 Sq.km of newly acquired 3D data, processed to PSDM and 80,000 Sq.km of Multibeam Echo Sounding & Seafloor Geochemical Coring data.
The Commission said the combined efforts of the General Security Forces and Private Security Contractors (TANTITA) as well as collaborative efforts of the Commission with security operatives in September 2025 resulted in a reduction of about 9,600 barrels per day of oil (about 90 percent) of an average daily crude oil losses of about 102,900 barrels per day, or 37.6 million barrels per year in 2021.
Furthermore, the Commission said two pioneer regulations it introduced contributed, namely The Upstream Measurement Regulation and the Advanced Cargo Declaration Regulation respectively, successfully contributed to the achievement of transparency in hydrocarbon accounting in the industry.
The Commission said it took its successes beyond the country’s shores, with the Commission Chief Executive, Engr Gbenga Komolafe, demonstrating exemplary leadership as he championed the establishment of the African Petroleum Regulators Forum (AFRIPERF).
Currently, AFRIPERF, which provides regulators with the mechanism to harmonise oil and gas development policies to facilitate cross-border infrastructure development, benchmark fiscals and present strong voice for Africa in hydrocarbon advocacy globally, has 16 members, including Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Gambia Madagascar, Sudan, Guinea, Togo, Angola, South Africa, Mozambique, Benin Republic, Kenya, Namibia, Morocco and Mauritania.
