The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has disclosed that only six out of the 42 deep offshore licences it granted in the last 30 years have been developed.
This was revealed by the Head of the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre, Victor Otobo, who represented the Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, at the recent Kenna Partners Energy Dialogue held in Lagos under the theme, ‘Divestments, Re-Investments, Deep-Offshore Development and the Future of Oil and Gas in Nigeria’.
A statement by Kenna Partners quoted Otobo as saying, “The commission has granted 42 licenses for deep offshore development over 30 years but only six have been developed so far.”
He cited funding constraints and technology as the major impediments to deep offshore development, noting that the commission has, therefore, streamlined the tax regime, removed the bottlenecks, and provided clarity to potential investors to encourage investments.
He reiterated the commitment of the commission to creating an enabling regulatory environment that fosters divestment and re-investment in the industry.
