By Chinedu Echianu
Confusion and overlaps in the regulatory framework governing Nigeria’s oil and gas industry are threatening investment, efficiency and stability in the sector, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has warned.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, raised the concern at the fifth edition of the PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit (PELS 2026) in Abuja, where stakeholders examined the theme: “Strengthening Regulatory Frameworks as a Catalyst for Stability and Growth in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry.”
Osifo said while the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 represented a major attempt to end decades of fragmented regulation, subsequent alterations to the framework, including changes to fiscal provisions and the use of executive orders, had created fresh uncertainties for investors and operators.
He also expressed concern over overlapping mandates among the various institutions regulating the petroleum industry.
According to him, the challenge is not necessarily the number of regulatory institutions but the way their mandates interact, warning that operators should not be subjected to repetitive approvals, multiple inspections or conflicting directives.
“Whereas responsibilities overlap, operators should not be subjected to repetitive approvals, multiple inspections or conflicting directives. Regulation must provide oversight without creating unavoidable jurisdictions,” Osifo said.
He argued that Nigeria needs a regulatory environment that is predictable, transparent, efficient and fair, particularly because oil and gas investments are capital-intensive and often involve decisions spanning decades.
Osifo said regulatory uncertainty could delay final investment decisions, slow production and discourage capital from entering the country at a time when Nigeria needs to increase oil and gas output.
He further criticised the abuse of expatriate quotas, saying foreign personnel should not be used to fill positions for which qualified Nigerians are available.
Responding to the concerns, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, defended the Federal Government’s approach, saying regulatory reform was necessary to make Nigeria competitive for global capital.
Lokpobiri said the government had introduced a number of executive orders and policy measures to address bottlenecks identified in the implementation of the PIA, including reducing contracting cycles and improving the competitiveness of petroleum projects.
He said contracting processes that previously took as long as two years were being streamlined towards a six-month target, adding that the government had also taken steps to improve investment competitiveness and reduce upstream operating costs.
According to him, the government’s approach is to amend or adjust regulations where they create unnecessary costs and bottlenecks rather than allow the law to frustrate investment.
The minister also announced that the Federal Government’s new offshore investment framework, including the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentive Tax Remission Order 2026, was designed to unlock about $50 billion in new investments in large capital-intensive offshore developments that had remained stalled for years.
Representing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, the Senior Special Assistant (Technical), Prof. Babatunde Bernard, also acknowledged regulatory uncertainty as one of the major challenges confronting Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
He said the sector had suffered from underinvestment, declining productivity, insecurity, infrastructure deficits, crude oil theft, limited refining capacity and a persistent gap between the country’s enormous petroleum potential and the value derived by Nigerians.
He disclosed that the administration had established the Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation Task Force in 2026 to consolidate ongoing reforms, unlock capital and optimise national petroleum assets.
The task force, he said, is also expected to develop a 10-year National Energy Transformation Strategy with measurable targets for production, foreign exchange earnings, GDP contribution and cost competitiveness.
The opening of the three-day summit ended with a common message from labour and government: Nigeria’s petroleum industry requires a regulatory system that provides certainty for investors while protecting workers, enforcing standards and ensuring that the country derives greater value from its oil and gas resources.
