06/10/2026
At the 5th Anniversary Commemoration of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), I reflected on the bottlenecks the Commission faced when the Renewed Hope Administration came into office.
NUPRC was then only two years old, and my guiding conviction was clear: the Commission would not be judged by the number of regulations implemented, but by the number of businesses enabled. Five years on, it can look back with significant achievements.
Nigeria holds vast crude oil reserves, estimated at over 37 billion barrels, but reserves left underground can not translate into jobs, revenue, investment, or development. This is why we have continued to enable businesses, unlock investment, and make the petroleum sector more competitive under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
I commend NUPRC for its work and urge the Commission to keep the fire burning: unlock more barrels, enable more businesses, accelerate investment, and leverage Nigeria’s strategic location to attract greater capital into our country.
Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri Ph.D.