The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says Nigeria and other stakeholders in the oil and gas sector need an industry that can translate the nation’s enormous hydrocarbon resources into economic prosperity.
The President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Festus Osifo, made the call while addressing participants at the ongoing three-day fifth edition of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Energy and Labour Summit (PEARLs 2026) in Abuja.
The theme of the summit is “Strengthening Regulatory Frameworks as a Catalyst for Stability and Growth in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry.”
Osifo said PEARLs was conceived as a platform where players in the oil and gas industry could converge and exchange ideas on moving the sector towards global best practices.
“The objective was clear: to create a platform where labour, government, regulators, operators, investors and other stakeholders could interrogate the challenges confronting our industry and proffer practical solutions.
“Since its maiden edition in 2022, PEARLs has grown beyond being an annual PENGASSAN event.
“We have examined issues ranging from gas development, downstream deregulation, energy transition, casualisation, energy security, divestment, artificial intelligence, crude oil tax, HSE, ESG and investment to incremental production,” Osifo stated.
He expressed delight that critical actors whose decisions, investments, expertise and labour continue to shape Nigeria’s oil and gas industry had once again gathered to brainstorm on the way forward.
He said oil and gas was one of the most capital-intensive industries in the world, noting that investments made today could have implications stretching decades into the future.
He, therefore, stressed the need for sound and strategic thinking in making such investments.
Speaking on the need for a clear regulatory framework in the sector, the PENGASSAN president said: “Investors need clear rules. Operators need predictability. Workers need protection. Host communities need confidence. Governments need sustainable revenues. Nigerians need an industry that translates our enormous hydrocarbon resources into economic prosperity.
“For this to happen, our regulatory environment must be predictable, transparent, efficient and fair to all.
“The Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 represented a significant milestone after decades of attempts to reform the industry. Five years into its implementation, however, we have seen considerable alterations to the framework, including the removal of some fiscal provisions and their movement to the Nigeria Revenue Act, as well as the use of an executive order to amend provisions of the law.
“These do not instil confidence or promote stability. Instead, they amplify uncertainty and disruption.
“Today, we have two principal petroleum regulators created by the PIA: the NUPRC for upstream operations and the NMDPRA for the midstream and downstream sectors, alongside the NCDMB, NUSRA and several other federal and state institutions whose statutory responsibilities intersect with oil and gas operations,” he said.
The challenge, he noted, was not just the number of institutions but how efficiently their mandates were being implemented.
When responsibilities overlap, Osifo said, operators should not be subjected to repetitive approvals, multiple inspections or conflicting directives.
“Regulation must provide oversight without creating avoidable delays,” he said.
He called for an industry characterised by international best practices, occupational safety, fair labour practices, productivity, technological advancement, skills development, responsible corporate governance and respect for collective bargaining.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Technical Matters, Professor Olatunji Bolade, said the government had, through the Petroleum Industry Act, deliberately created an enabling environment for investors and other players in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
He said Nigeria was at a critical point in the development of its petroleum industry.
“For decades, our oil and gas resources have remained central to national development, foreign exchange earnings and public financing. Yet, the sector has confronted serious challenges, including regulatory uncertainty, underinvestment, declining productivity, insecurity, infrastructure deficits, crude oil theft, limited refining capacity and a persistent gap between the enormous potential of our resources and the value derived from them.
“The administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, therefore, came into office with a clear understanding that Nigeria could no longer afford to conduct business as usual in the petroleum sector.
“The President has demonstrated the political will to undertake difficult but necessary reforms aimed at transforming the sector from one characterised by uncertainty and leakages into one that is productive, competitive, investment-friendly and capable of supporting a sustainable nation.”
He stated that one of the most significant pillars of the administration’s approach had been the implementation and strengthening of the PIA and the improvement of the regulatory architecture governing the sector.
According to him, the objective was not merely to create regulations but to establish a predictable environment in which investors could commit capital with confidence.
The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Ms Meyiwa Eyisan, said her organisation had adopted three main pillars to move the sector forward.
She said these included production optimisation, stability and speed, adding that the Federal Government’s target of increasing production and revenue growth was achievable.
“The second pillar is stability and speed. We knew what we had to do: safe, governed and sustainable operations.
“Now, we knew these pillars would come with challenges. We were not oblivious to the fact that we were not going to tap our fingers and achieve them.
“We knew we were going to be confronted with a lot of challenges, but we stuck with the union, we stuck with the industry, and we agreed that these were the acceptable pillars to forge the industry,” she said.
She also spoke on strategies already in place to achieve the goals, maintaining that the three pillars were attainable.
For ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, two major players in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, the country does not lack potential.
The companies stressed that Nigeria had the resources, talent, industrial history, oil and gas experience, strong entrepreneurs and growing energy demand, adding that the country had “definitely, and more than ever, a role to play in meeting Africa’s future energy needs.”
The Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, Mr Matthieu Bouyer, said, “The real challenge is about conversion — converting potential into projects, production and value; bringing energy to the power industry and exports; and turning reforms into real investments and investor confidence.”
The two organisations called for greater stability in the sector, saying that while the state had the obligation to regulate, stability in the industry was the responsibility of all stakeholders.
The summit ends on Friday, 21 August 2026.
