Reps move to establish Oil and Gas Decommissioning Commission

…Says Bill Aims to Promote Environmental Protection, Development successful Host Communities

By Gift Chapi-Odekina, Abuja

The House of Representatives Committee connected Petroleum Resources (Upstream) connected Thursday held a nationalist proceeding connected the National Commission for Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Installations (NC-DOGI) Bill, 2024, which seeks to found a regulatory assemblage to oversee the harmless dismantling, removal, and biology restoration of lipid and state facilities crossed Nigeria.

Declaring the league unfastened astatine the National Assembly Complex, the Committee Chairman, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa, said the proceeding was a important portion of the legislative process to guarantee transparency, inclusiveness, and nationalist information successful law-making.

According to him, the projected Commission aims to tackle long-standing challenges associated with the abandonment and decommissioning of lipid and state installations, which person continued to airs environmental, economic, and societal risks—particularly to big communities successful the Niger Delta and different oil-producing regions.

“This Bill is simply a important legislative connection due to the fact that it touches connected the payment of our people, the extortion of our environment, and the livelihoods of big communities,” Doguwa stated. “It reflects Parliament’s committedness to ensuring that the maturation of the lipid and state assemblage aligns with biology work and sustainable assemblage development.”

He clarified that the league was not an investigative proceeding but a forum to stitchery inputs that would usher the Committee and the House toward an informed and balanced legislative decision.

“Our relation is to perceive objectively, collate each viewpoints, and measure them cautiously earlier presenting our recommendations to the House,” helium said.

Doguwa acknowledged that portion the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) already provides for decommissioning and abandonment nether Sections 232 and 233—assigning roles to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (MDPRA)—the increasing standard and complexity of specified activities whitethorn warrant a specialized institution.

He explained that the proceeding was truthful designed to find whether the existing model is capable oregon whether a dedicated Commission would amended service the nationalist interest.

Among the captious stakeholders invited to the proceeding were representatives from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Federal Ministry of Environment, NUPRC, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), manufacture operators, civilian nine groups, and the world community.

Doguwa urged participants to marque evidence-based submissions to assistance signifier a balanced, effective, and sustainable model for managing decommissioning activities successful the lipid and state industry.

He reaffirmed the Committee’s committedness to ensuring that the legislative process strengthens Nigeria’s biology governance and safeguards the well-being of oil-producing communities.

The station Reps determination to found Oil and Gas Decommissioning Commission appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.