Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, CCE of NUPRC
…Technical knowledge and journalistic reporting has become a national imperative
-Felix Douglas
Speaking during her keynote address at the SPE Nigeria Council Executive Masterclass on Energy Journalism, Commission Chief Executive (CCE), of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, acknowledged that the training was timely and compelling.
Eyesan was represented by Engr. Amba Ndoma Egba, Deputy Director, Acreage Administration at NUPRC.
According to the CCE “we live in an age when unverified information travels faster than it can be authenticated and a headline can move energy markets before the underlying facts are confirmed.
The intersection of technical knowledge and journalistic reporting has become a national imperative.
“Today, we wish to explain, from the regulator’s perspective, why engineering the narrative is not the media’s burden alone. It is a national imperative jointly owned by the regulator, operators, investors, and the press.”
As the technical and commercial regulator of Nigeria’s upstream petroleum industry, the Commission does not only enforce compliance but also build confidence at the intersection of three pillars: transparent regulation, technically sound operations, and accurate public communication.
Eyesan was of the view that if any one of these pillars is weakened, investor confidence will erode and public trust will begin to crack.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 established NUPRC with clearer mandates and an explicit obligation to regulate the sector transparently, predictably, and in line with global standards of competitiveness.
This is guided by the Commission’s vision to become Africa’s leading regulator and it is working to position Nigeria’s upstream sector as the continent’s most transparent, investment-friendly, and technically rigorous petroleum jurisdiction.
Eyesan said this is not merely an aspiration; it is an operational principle that guides every licensing round NUPRC designs, every field development plan it evaluates, reserves audit validated and every production benchmark monitored.
Under this Commission, regulation is no longer simply a gatekeeping exercise; it is a framework for enabling responsible growth.
It regulates not to obstruct, but to reduce risk; not to create confusion, but to provide clarity.
She spoke on the 2025 Licensing Round and the Commission’s experience of an exercise that demanded sustained attention over the past eight months.
Eyesan pointed out that the 2025 licensing round attracted interest from many companies globally. 50 blocks were on offer across different terrains; onshore, offshore, deepwater and even frontier areas.
After the prequalification stage, 196 applicants were advanced to the technical and commercial stages, where 143 companies submitted 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets. The process, which was very transparent, efficient and competitive, culminated at the commercial bid conference held on the 21st July, 2021.
Speaking further the NUPRC CCE said when the winners were announced, the narrative that emerged in certain quarters was, frankly, uneven. Some reports accurately captured the technical merits of winning bids, the geological prospectively of the awarded blocks, and the strategic and transparent process behind the Commission’s evaluation criteria.
Others, regrettably, reduced a rigorous and competitive technical process to political speculation, and unsubstantiated headlines. This further underscores the gap between regulatory process and public understanding, a gap that widens when journalistic reporting does not align with facts and technical knowledge.
She spoke on media’s responsibility from storytelling to narrative engineering that it should be accurate. It serves neither regulator nor operator but facts which must remain at the heart of every account of the sector.
The CCE advised energy journalists that before reporting on Nigeria’s petroleum industry, they should seek methodology and reliable data behind the figures.
Always ask for the context surrounding timelines and the assumptions underlying projections.
She urged energy journalists to cultivate data literacy as a core journalistic competency; not merely as a specialised skill for energy correspondents, but as a basic requirement for anyone reporting on Nigeria’s most economically viable sector.
NUPRC is not merely a regulator; it is the steward of Nigeria’s sovereign petroleum resources on behalf of more than 200 million Nigerians. At its core, stewardship is also an act of communication. Through regulations, enforcement, data, and commitment to transparency, journalists tell the story of how Nigeria manages one of its most vital resources.
However, the regulator cannot tell this story alone. It must also be reported, interpreted, scrutinised, and communicated by a media equipped with the technical literacy to engage confidently with the sector’s complexities.
“You have the platform, and we have the data. Together, let us engineer an accurate and credible narrative.”
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