Streamline the Functions of DPR, Stakeholders Tell FG

• Streamline the Functions of DPR, Stakeholders Tell FG

Stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have called on the Federal Government to streamline the roles of the Department of Petroleum Resources in order to make the agency more effective and efficient in the discharge of its functions.

According to them, the issuance of licences for the drilling of crude and the policing of the oil and gas sector, as currently handled by the DPR, were not in line with international best practices.

The stakeholders, who comprised officials from civil society organisations and various government agencies, disclosed these in a report that captured the findings of an assessment of the environmental framework in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, especially with respect to the Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria.

Outlining some of the findings at a stakeholder validation workshop on the oil and gas sector in Abuja, the Executive Director of the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, said it was high time the Federal Government streamlined the functions of DPR.

He said, “We found that DPR has a lot on its plate. It is not in line with international best practices for an entity to be giving out licences to drill and then is also at the same time the environment watchdog. We think that is not in alignment with the practice in many other countries that are serious with environmental impact.

“So we think there is a clear need to clarify the role of DPR and to streamline its functions. DPR cannot be the licensing authority and be the environmental watchdog as well. We also found that there is a need for the activities of DPR to be more transparent.”

Olawuyi added, “Almost all the stakeholders that we interviewed mentioned that getting information from DPR is almost an impossible task, getting to work with DPR is almost an impossible task and getting DPR to publish the results of its environmental assessment in a transparent manner has not been something that has happened in a satisfactory way.”

On findings with respect to the Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria, he stated that current framework for compliance was very weak.