Nigeria has reduced the approval timeline for restarting inactive oil wells.
Eniola Akinkuotu, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) spokesperson, told TheCable that the authority is accelerating procedures and “cutting down timelines for issuing permits”, including those for reactivating oil wells.
“We are speeding up processes and reducing timelines for permit issuance. Each permit has its distinct timeline,” he said.
The move is reportedly aimed at helping the country capitalise on high energy prices.
According to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday, the NUPRC is now granting permits within hours of application, citing sources familiar with the process who requested anonymity.
“With oil trading near $100 a barrel, Africa’s top producers are moving to capitalize on demand as buyers turn to suppliers such as Nigeria and Angola, away from the Middle East conflict,” the report reads.
“The West African nation has also fast-tracked approvals for evacuations and barges at production facilities and export terminals.”
A spokesperson at the regulator said “speedy approvals” were being given “for all activities that could increase production”.
Bloomberg said the recent spike in applications has largely been driven by local oil companies looking to return to previously inactive wells, noting that the regulator is encouraging this activity by shortening an approval process that used to take between two and six weeks.
Restoring older or inactive wells for production is said to be more cost-effective than drilling new ones, which can take years of planning, with any resulting crude typically taking around four weeks to reach the surface.
“Nigeria’s production fell to 1.31 million barrels per day in February, the lowest level in 17 months, largely due to maintenance work at a 225,000 barrels a day production facility operated by Shell Plc,” the publication said.
“Output has yet to recover to peaks above 2 million barrels a day, limiting the country’s ability to capitalize on rising crude prices relative to its peers.
“The OPEC member averaged 1.34 million barrels a day in 2022, when oil surged to as much as $130 a barrel following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The regulator had reportedly approved 500 permits in 2024 to reopen old wells, including those for Heirs Energy and Seplat Energy Plc.
On April 1, Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources, said the federal government planned to commence implementing the drill-or-drop provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
