NUPRC boss playing pivotal role in ramping up Nigeria’s oil production – Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Engineer Gbenga Komolafe, the pioneer Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and interim Chairman of the African Petroleum Regulators Forum (AFRIPERF), on his birthday. President Tinubu joined members of the Komolafe family, friends, and NUPRC staff to celebrate the accomplished engineer and lawyer whose 35 years […]

President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Engineer Gbenga Komolafe, the pioneer Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and interim Chairman of the African Petroleum Regulators Forum (AFRIPERF), on his birthday.

President Tinubu joined members of the Komolafe family, friends, and NUPRC staff to celebrate the accomplished engineer and lawyer whose 35 years in the oil sector have been characterised by innovation and excellence.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, said as the head of Nigeria’s upstream regulator, Engineer Komolafe has played a pivotal role in ramping up oil production to meet OPEC’s quota, increasing revenue, reducing oil losses to a 16-year low and gas flaring to 7.16% while scaling up the average daily gas production to 7.59 billion standard cubic feet (BSCFD).

The NUPRC Chief Executive had served as Executive Director (Commercial) in the Pipelines and Petroleum Marketing Company (PPMC) and Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division at the defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Under Engineer Komolafe’s watch, the NUPRC has rolled out 24 transformative regulations, of which 19 have been gazetted to operationalise key provisions in the Petroleum Industry Act.

“These high-impact reforms, including the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Measurement Regulations and the Advanced Cargo Declaration Regulation, have helped address long-standing gaps in the monitoring and accountability of upstream activities.”

“The Commission has also embedded computerised, transparent, and competitive licensing rounds into its regulatory practice, as attested to by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Initiative (NEITI).”