• Seeks completion of headquarters

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said the speedy completion of its proposed headquarters, The Barrel, will boost the commission’s efficiency and Nigeria’s investment appeal.

The Barrel, a 10-storey building with the capacity to accommodate 900 to 1,000 people is being constructed in the likeness of a convex, curved cylinder that bulges outward at its center.

The facility, located at the Central Business District, Abuja, was initiated in 2020 but has yet to be completed, forcing the NUPRC to resort to smaller offices in different locations in the FCT.

Speaking during an inspection of the proposed head office, the Chairman, NUPRC Board, Senator Magnus Abe, said the current arrangement whereby major oil and gas companies seeking to discuss multi-billion-dollar investments had to move between different NUPRC locations across Abuja to transact business with the regulator, projected an image that is detrimental to the country’s investment drive.

Abe said: “It is a thing of great embarrassment to this country when major oil and gas companies come to Nigeria to discuss investments worth billions of dollars, only to meet the regulator in a block of flats and from there proceed to other parts of the city to see different departments to conduct transactions with the NUPRC.

“This image is not just bad for the country, but bad for business.”

Abe added that the proposed permanent site would provide a central location for the Commission’s operations and engagements with industry players, while also serving as a symbol of national pride and confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

According to him, the impact of the administration’s policies was already evident in the resurgence of investment in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.

The Chairman said the investments were already creating employment and business opportunities while driving development in host communities and increasing revenues for the country.

Also speaking, the Commission Chief Executive, NUPRC, Mrs. OritsemeyiwaEyesan, asked the contractor to fast-track the construction and deliver the project by the first quarter of 2027.

The Managing Director, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Engineer Peer Lubasch, promised to make efforts to meet the timeline.