MEDIATRACNET
The Federal Government is committed to the effort to raise the country’s oil production capacity and boost investments in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC), Gbenga Komolafe, has said.
The new Commission established through the instrumentality of the recently enacted Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has the mandate to regulate the technical and commercial activities of the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector.
In a podcast address from Abuja to the staff of the Commission on Wednesday, Komolafe urged all to join hands with the newly constituted board and executive management of the agency to build a strong organization with the capacity to positively change the narrative in the upstream sector of the Nigerian economy.
Komolafe said the establishment of the NURC “in itself would translate to landmark transformations in the industry expected to usher in massive investments in the industry, for enhanced revenue to fund Nigeria’s social budget given the criticality of upstream activities to the Nigerian economy”.
He said the oil and gas sector of the economy was at a critical, but significant moment in the life of the industry, with energy transition from fossil fuels to alternative cleaner energy competing with the need to raise the bar in crude oil and gas production from the current level of 1.4 million barrels per day to 2.4 million BPD”.
“We are not unmindful that the expectations are high. But we are quite determined to surmount the task ahead and hit the ground running. That aside, our confidence is elevated by the team spirit and the capability of all to deliver on the assigned mandate,” Komolafe said.
Komolafe noted that the executive management team of the Commission planned to get the buy-in of all the staff to achieve the expected results.
“We do not ascribe to ourselves the wisdom of Solomon, and nobody is a repository of knowledge.
“Our leadership approach will be anchored on inclusive management,” he said.
With the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), he said the country is at a significant era in the industry, where the local and international community are eagerly awaiting performance.
“We are determined, under our leadership, to deliver a 21st century upstream petroleum regulator anchored on principles of effective and efficient services, transparency, professionalism and cost consciousness,” he said.
While applauding President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly for the passage and accent to the PIA, the Upstream boss said the team was “committed to laying a solid regulatory foundation that future generations would build upon, especially that the clarity provided by the PIA has clearly defined the boundaries of our job”.
He maintained that with the foundation now laid in the oil and gas sector under the PIA “what is left is for all, as a team, to roll our sleeves as we set to deliver on our variously assigned tasks.
“As we settle down to work, we shall unveil the outlook of the new Commission, the regulation and the blueprint of our strategic plan in the coming weeks,” he said.
“Our focus is to build a completely brand-new organization with a new vision, mission, culture, ethos in line with international best practices and this will entail our handshake across the border and frontier of Nigeria with similar international regulatory agencies,” Komolafe said.
While once again reassuring staff and management of of the agency of the security of their jobs, he said “we shall be fair to all and sundry in our leadership approach, we shall do all in our capacity to address issues of worker’s welfare and give priority to good industrial relations. Human capital capacity development will be stringently pursued to ensure high standard of professionalism at all times.”
“In our drive to ensure best practices for a 21st century regulator, we shall equally focus on digitalization of our activities at all levels. Our staff shall be given a sense of pride through the creation of enabling working environment,” he said.
