The Federal Government has established a new paradigm in acreage and lease administration in the oil and gas industry.
It said this was in line with the objective of the Petroleum Industry Act to optimize value from acreage management and administration and the new acreage allocation principles enunciated in the law.
The government disclosed this through its Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, explaining that the move was to adopt a more strategic approach in the administration of licenses and leases.
“To position, the commission on a performance-centered paradigm for acreage management, a new strategy of acreage allocation, management, and administration based on a holistic assessment of the prior performance of all licenses and leases awarded before the PIA is required,” the NUPRC stated in a statement issued in Abuja.
It added, “The assessment would seek to identify the areas of regulatory underperformance in acreage management and administration leading to failure of licensees and lessees inability to carry out license and lease performance obligations, including the acquisition of data, drilling of wells and maturing of identified leads and prospects within the license or lease span.”
In a memo to the senior management staff of the commission, the Chief Executive Officer, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, listed the aspects of the new strategy to include the review of assignee performance and contributions to licenses and lessees; review of compliance performance in reporting milestones by licensees and lessees; and the administration of regulatory consequence mechanisms.
Others included the review of loss allocation by licensees and lessees under the PIA, including production, cost, and revenue, as well as the performance review of existing multi-client arrangements while streamlining ongoing activities to the PIA.
