The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, has unveiled a comprehensive transformation agenda aimed at repositioning Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector and boosting crude oil production.
Mrs. Eyesan presented the agenda at a stakeholder engagement in Lagos attended by representatives of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), emerging operators and other industry leaders.
She said the agenda is built on three key pillars: production optimisation and revenue expansion; regulatory predictability and speed; and safe, governed and sustainable operations.
According to her, the strategy aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and supports national production targets of two million barrels of oil per day by 2027 and three million barrels per day by 2030.
To drive production growth and increase revenue, Mrs. Eyesan explained that the Commission will prioritise the recovery of economically viable shut-in volumes, halt production decline, minimise losses and accelerate time-to-first-oil, without imposing additional regulatory or transaction costs. She disclosed that the process has already commenced with the recent reactivation of a long-shut-in asset.
On regulatory efficiency, the NUPRC boss said the Commission will publish Service Level Agreements for all major approvals, deploy digital workflows for permitting and reporting, harmonise internal processes and eliminate approval delays. She added that a 90-day fast-track programme is currently underway for near-ready Field Development Plans, well interventions, rig mobilisation and other quick-win projects.
Mrs. Eyesan noted that the third pillar of the agenda focuses on strengthening governance and process safety, improving host community outcomes, ensuring accurate hydrocarbon accounting and advancing progressive decarbonisation. She revealed that the Commission has set a target of achieving 100 per cent compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act within 12 months, to be supervised by a dedicated team in the office of the Commission Chief Executive.
She also announced the introduction of a monthly CCE–Operators Leadership Forum, bringing together NNPC Ltd, OPTS, IPPG and emerging players to address approval timelines, production restoration, infrastructure integrity and gas monetisation, with a view to eliminating systemic bottlenecks in the sector.
The NUPRC chief executive further disclosed that operators with matured opportunities have been invited to submit projects by the end of the first quarter of 2026 to benefit from a streamlined and mutually agreed approval framework.
She said the success of the Commission’s transformation agenda would be measured by faster and more predictable approvals, higher and more sustainable production levels, disciplined acreage management, world-class health, safety and environmental performance, as well as improved transparency and data integrity.
She added that quarterly progress reports would be published to keep stakeholders informed.
