­NMDPRA appoints Nwachukwu as ADR centre coordinator

The Chief Executive (ACE), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, has appointed Charles Nwachukwu as the Coordinator of the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre (MDPADRC).

The MDPADRC was established under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations 2023, as a platform for the timely and cost-efficient resolution of disputes in the midstream and downstream petroleum industry.

The Centre, utilising ADR methods, shall have jurisdiction in disputes arising from petroleum operations in the midstream and downstream petroleum industry including the provision of open access and third-party access to facilities and infrastructure used for gas and petroleum liquids operations, gas trading and settlement, host communities and industry labour matters. Courts of competent jurisdiction may also refer industry disputes to the Centre for amicable resolution.

Nwachukwu is a lawyer with over 23 years of legal cognate experience in the oil and gas industry and has served in various capacities within the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the NMDPRA.

He is an AIM-qualified mediator with the UK Mediation Institute and a member of various industry and professional associations.