By Adedapo Adesanya
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said that it was ready to help deliver the federal government’s strategic mandate for the Nigerian petroleum industry over the next four years.
This was disclosed over the weekend by the Acting Director of the DPR, Mr Ahmad Shakur, at a strategic management retreat in Abuja which had Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, in attendance.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Shakur noted that since the Minister assumed office, each agency under the ministry has been tasked with specific deliverables to be implemented, adding that this would be measured against key parameters.
He identified the ministerial deliverables as: eradication of smuggling of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) across Nigerian borders; complete gas flare commercialisation programme; increase of crude oil production to three million barrels; reduction in the cost of oil extraction; promotion of the passage of the petroleum industry bill; increase in domestic refining capacity and the creation of jobs for Nigerian youths.
Mr Shakur vowed that the DPR would focus on the mandates that concerns it, adding that its strategy would involve all field officers, as well as all staff of the department.
Speaking on the objective of the retreat, the Acting Director said that this was to break down and communicate the ministerial mandate to all staff of the DPR and to enable it provide the necessary regulatory oversight for the oil and gas sector and achieve the next level agenda of Government.
He also explained that the strategic management retreat would further assist the agency to sustain its ongoing reforms, which are geared towards aligning with its vision of being a world class regulatory agency.
Mr Shakur also used the medium to task the top management of the agency to ensure total alignment of their divisions and zones to the ministerial deliverables as it has been embedded into the DPR’s corporate strategy.
On his part, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, commended the DPR for the initiative and commented on the shared vision by all industry players, calling for all hands to be on deck to achieve this.
He explained that the deliverables were a product of the ministerial retreat he had earlier in the year and reiterated that the DPR, being the core of the oil and gas sector of Nigeria, must ensure the successful delivery of the mandate.
Mr Sylva then instructed the department to swing into action ahead of next year to deliver and begin the actualisation of the oil and gas industry roadmap.
Dipo Olowookere