The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) have agreed to collaborate on improving radiological safety in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry while reducing operational costs for industry players.
The partnership was reached during a meeting between the Chief Executive of NUPRC, Mrs.
Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, and the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NNRA, Dr. Yau Idris, at the NUPRC headquarters.
NUPRC regulates the technical, commercial and operational activities of oil and gas exploration and production, while the NNRA oversees the use, transportation, possession and disposal of radioactive materials and radiation-emitting equipment in the country.
Speaking at the meeting, Eyesan said the collaboration would help address regulatory overlaps and reduce the burden of multiple regulations on operators in the sector.
According to her, reducing duplicated regulatory requirements is essential to lowering operational costs and improving the ease of doing business in the industry.
She noted that both agencies had identified key areas for cooperation and appointed officials to work together in closing existing regulatory gaps.
On his part, Idris said the upstream petroleum industry remains one of the largest users of radioactive sources and radiation-emitting equipment in Nigeria, particularly in well logging, industrial radiography and nucleonic gauging.
He explained that the NNRA depends on close cooperation with the NUPRC to effectively carry out its mandate and ensure safety across the sector.
Idris added that both agencies are working towards a single-window system that will allow information sharing and prevent operators from submitting the same data to different regulators.
The two organisations also agreed to collaborate on radiological impact assessments, management of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM), and capacity building in radiation protection and safe operations.
