Oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria got a total of 12,383 service permits in 2018 for the services rendered in the sector.
The Department of Petroleum Resources said the service permits were issued in three categories.
In a document detailing some of its achievements in 2018, which was obtained by our correspondent from the agency in Abuja on Friday, the DPR outlined the categories as general, major and special.
The agency said, “DPR granted a total of 12,383 oil and gas industry service permits in 2018. The permits include 2,730 in the general category; 5,963 in the major category; and 3,690 in the special category.”
The DPR has the statutory responsibility of ensuring compliance with petroleum laws, regulations and guidelines in the oil and gas industry.
The discharge of these responsibilities involved monitoring of operations at drilling sites, production wells, production platforms and flow stations, crude oil export terminals, refineries, storage depots, pump stations and retail outlets.
It also discharges these responsibilities by monitoring any other location where petroleum is either stored or sold and all pipelines carrying crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products while carrying out the additional functions that include the processing of industry applications for leases, licences and permits.
On the basis of the legal framework for the service permits, the agency stated that any service company that operated in the oil and gas sector without a service permit would be in contravention of the provision of the DPR regulation.
In its guidelines for oil and gas industry service companies permit, the DPR said a company might apply for and obtain permits in more than one category provided it was registered by Corporate Affairs Commission and had the appropriate legal status as well as the competencies, capabilities or equipment to carry out the jobs.
It said the guidelines were issued pursuant to Section 8, subsection 1(a) and 9, subsection 1(a) & (h) of the Petroleum (Drilling and Production) Amendment Regulations 1988, which empowered the director of petroleum resources to formulate regulations/guidelines from time to time for the smooth and safe operations in the oil and gas industry.

Source: Punch