The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday said its Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, has unveiled her vision for the country’s upstream sector.
The NUPRC’s Head of Media and Strategic Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, in a statement said Mrs Eyesan unveiled her agenda on Wednesday at a stakeholder meeting in Lagos.
This transformative vision, according to the statement, rests on three pillars: Production optimisation and revenue expansion; regulatory predictability and speed; and safe, governed and sustainable operations.
The regulator’s CEO, said this aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda and his plan to hit a production target of 2 million barrels of oil per day (mmbopd) by 2027 and 3 mmbopd by 2030.
Last December, Gbenga Komolafe, the former chief executive of the NUPRC, resigned from office.
In her vision, the statement said, Mrs Eyesan plans on increasing production and revenue expansion through the recovery of shut-in volumes with economic value, arresting decline, reducing losses, and accelerating time-to-first oil—without increasing burdens or transaction cost.
This, she said, had already begun by recently “turning on the light” in a long shut-in asset.
It explained that Mrs Eyesan’s plan, regulatory predictability and speed can be achieved by running regulation like a service, enforcing rules transparently and making quick time-bound decisions.
The new NUPRC boss also plans to strengthen governance, process safety, host community outcomes, and encourage decarbonisation through safe, governed and sustainable operations.
“Going forward, the commission will be measured on the following key success metrics-faster, predictable regulatory approvals, higher, more secure and sustainable production, credible licensing and disciplined acreage performance, world-class HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) and process safety outcomes, trusted measurement, transparency, governance and data integrity,” she said.
Mrs Eyesan promised that under her leadership, the NUPRC will enhance regulatory efficiency and predictability by publishing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for all major approvals.
She stated that the timeline to production will be reduced through proactive discussions regarding all necessary approvals, implementation of stage-gate processes, and mutual agreement on timelines with the commission.
“Stakeholders are encouraged to submit their projects for consideration. For matured opportunities, please submit your request at the latest end of Q1, 2026. This would provide a simplified and holistic framework that creates obligations for both operators and the commission,” she added.
According to her, the commission will launch a digital workflow for permitting, reporting and data submissions.
She added that the NUPRC will work with the industry to identify capacity gaps and develop tiered intervention in the most critical areas with immediate impact on regulatory efficiency “while we harmonise our own internal processes to eliminate conflicting regulatory actions and reduce friction.”
She revealed that the NUPRC’s internal transformation programme through a project management office is in flight and “I will provide more details on this in the coming days.”
Mrs Eyesan stressed the need to improve hydrocarbon accounting and measurement by tracking every barrel produced and promptly addressing discrepancies or losses.
On host community, she encouraged all operators to liaise with the commission “as we plan first engagement with host community leaders to reaffirm commitment to HCDT (Host Community Development Trust) implementation.
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She said one of her key goals is to ensure 100 per cent to the Petroleum Industry Act within 12 months. This, she said, will be monitored with a dedicated team situated in her office.
“The commission going forward will issue quarterly progress reports. Let therefore bring all high impact shut in fields for approval.”
She added that a 90-day program to fast track approvals for near-ready Field Development Plans (FDPs), well interventions, rig mobilisation and other quick-win opportunities have commenced.
