The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, has disclosed that the country’s oil rigs have increased to 30 from 11 in 2011.
He linked the increase to NUPRC and other government stakeholders’ efforts to attract confidence and certainty into the oil and gas industry.
According to Komolafe, Nigeria recorded capital expenditure worth billions of dollars within the last two and a half years due to the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Speaking recently in Lagos after receiving The Sun Award, Komolafe noted that since his resumption at the NUPRC in the last two and a half years as one of the pioneer staffers of the NUPRC, he and his team had been discharging their statutory mandate effectively, resulting to the success stories.
He said, “The country now has about 30 rigs in its upstream oil and gas sector, against 11 active rigs in 2011.
“That is a huge success for us, and you know that rig count is a measure of vibrant activities in the oil industry. We have been able to attract confidence, certainty, and predictability into the industry.
“If you check, we’ve attracted capex going into billions of dollars into the Nigerian upstream. So, gradually, we are happy that we have success stories to tell just in about less than two and half years.”
Komolafe added that the NUPRC had issued over 17 regulations to give meaning to the intent of the PIA.
He said those regulations were aimed at ensuring certainty and predictability in the activities of the industry as distinct from what was obtained before the PIA came into effect.
The oil rig count refers to the number of active drilling rigs extracting oil from the ground at a given time.
It is an important metric in the oil and gas industry as it provides insight into the level of drilling activity, which can influence oil production levels and market dynamics.