Over 70% of Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves are in swamp and offshore environments, with over 40,000 workers registered to work there. Following the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as the successor agency of the Department of Petroleum Resources is the upstream industry regulator mandated to drive several safety programs to protect people, environment, and assets through enforcement of laws and regulations.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which came into effect in August 2021, provides legal, governance, regulatory, and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and for related matters. The PIA put in place two industry regulators, the NUPRC and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). NUPRC regulates the activities of the upstream sector. In the same vein, NMDPRA regulates the activities of the midstream and downstream of the industry.
According to the PIA, the commission is the technical and commercial regulator of the upstream sector and oversees the management of petroleum reserves, exploration, development, and production activities within the onshore frontier basins, shallow water, and deep offshore. In addition, administration, enforcement, and implementation of laws, policies, and regulations as they relate to upstream petroleum operations in Nigeria is vested in the commission. With respect to oil production, Nigeria is the largest producer in Africa and seventh largest producer in the world.
The management of this industry in Nigeria is not without its attendant health, safety, and environmental (HSE) issues. Consequently, based on best practices, industry experience, and lessons learned from incidents, the commission regularly develops safety programs to reduce and eliminate HSE incidents. The aim of this paper is to discuss the various safety programs adopted by commission to reduce accidents in swamp and offshore areas, in which the bulk of the oil and gas operations occur.
The aim of this paper is to discuss the various safety programs adopted by the commission to reduce accidents in swamp and offshore areas, in which bulk of the oil and gas operations occur. A detailed review of the programs showed that, in addition to protection of people, environment, and asset, safety programs drive cost savings in the industry, improve collaboration among operators, and create jobs and other economic opportunities in Nigeria.
This paper discusses in detail the background, methodology, successes, challenges, and opportunities of some flagship safety programs of the commission. The following programs discussed:
- Administration of Offshore Safety Permit
- Implementation of Safety Case
- Annual Facility Inspection and Oil Spill Contingency Plan
- Risk Based Inspection
- Safety and Emergency Training Center
- Medical Center Accreditation and Search, Rescue, and Surveillance Program
This paper only gives insight into the management of safety in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and does not attempt to review the performance or effectiveness of these safety programs vis-à-vis accident statistics in the industry. The various safety programs can be adopted by regulators around the world, especially in countries with a nascent oil and gas industry.
SPE members can download the complete paper from SPE’s Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability Technical Discipline page for free from 7 to 20 December.