By YINKA ADETUTU
About six months after assuming office as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan is pursuing a strategy centred on regulatory certainty, faster decision-making, operational efficiency, and transparent governance. The early signs are reflected in stronger production, renewed investor interest, and growing confidence in the licensing regime.
The 2025 licensing round closed with encouraging headline figures, but the composition of participants was even more significant. In addition to Nigerian indigenous companies, the round attracted substantial interest from international oil companies and, for the first time, meaningful participation from international independents. These operators bring frontier capital and deepwater expertise and have previously favoured more accommodating regulatory environments.
That shift did not happen by accident. It happened in a context that Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, six months into her tenure as Chief Commissioner/Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), is deliberately constructing.
“The level of participation tells me people have faith in the industry,” she says. “Not just Nigerian companies, IOCs and international independents. That is a signal. The question now is whether we build on it, and that depends entirely on whether the regulatory environment continues to move in the direction we have set.”
