Regulatory control activities in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria

Abstract

Experience on Fellowship Training at the NNRA on regulatory control activities in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria In the Ghanaian economy, radioactive sources are widely used. They have a massive array of applications in key sectors of the economy where they have specific uses and have come to shape certain procedures in these fields of human endeavour, most especially in medicine, food processing, mining and construction. However, when humans are exposed to uncontrolled ionizing radiation, the effects could be highly dangerous to human life. The background effects of this exposure could be deterministic, stochastic or genetic. Against this tapestry, it is imperative that a regulatory body with legislative backing be established to regulate the potential harmful usage of ionizing radiation. Within the Ghanaian enclave, the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission was in charge of this duty from 1993 to December 2015. But subsequent to a conflict of interest arising from the commission’s use of radiation sources, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) was established through an Act of parliament in August 2015, (Act 895, 2015). Totally independent of the GAEC, the NRA was empowered to handle all matters of a regulatory nature concerning ionizing radiation. The core mandate of the NRA covers Notification, application for authorization and authorization, inspection, enforcement and development of regulatory guides. The NRA is blessed with extensive experience in Medical and Industrial radiation regulation but has a very little background in nuclear regulation in the oil and gas sector. Owing to the fact that Ghana began commercial oil production in 2010 it sought for avenues to better its regulatory practice in the oil and gas sector. As a result, the NRA wrote the IAEA requesting a fellowship to which their Nigerian counterpart, the NNRA readily offered support. The fellowship training which lasted from 18th March to 17th April 2019 was supervised by Dr. Yau idris with a participation of Prof. Augustine Faanu and Mr. Theophilus Adjirackor. The fellowship focused on Understudying the regulatory control activities and processes implemented by the NNRA in the oil and gas Industry of Nigeria and comparing them with that of the NRA in Ghana in a bid to identify areas of good practice that can be implemented to help improve the regulatory infrastructure of the oil and gas industry of Ghana. The knowledge acquired within the one month fellowship training covered such areas which pertained to but were not limited to the NNRA Act 19 of 1995 and it’s supporting regulations, The minimum requirements in place for various facilities and activities covering administrative and radiation Protection, different types of licenses issued and their terms and conditions, types of inspection, inspection reports and the review process amongst others. In conclusion, it suffices to say that the knowledge gained from the experience of the fellowship training, that the objectives outlined for the experience were met with resounding success and in future would engender positive relations between the Nigerian and Ghanaian governments which would also trickle down to their respective regulatory bodies. Seminar presented by, Prof. Augustine Faanu and Mr. Theophilus Adjirackor