The Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority states that policy clarity, transparency, and consistency are major requirements for a sustainable energy industry.

Farouk Ahmed, NMDPRA’s chief executive, said this on Tuesday in Lagos at the ongoing 2025 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition.

Mr Ahmed noted that supply chain optimisation was also an important area that required coordinated actions since sustainable energy depended on efficient delivery systems.

He said this would include connected gas transportation and distribution lines, virtual pipelines, commodity exchange platforms, enhanced marine & land logistics, and liberalised markets.

He added that human resources would continue to play a critical role across the value chain, emphasising that it was therefore essential to build excellent capacity in all segments of the industry.

He said that this was considering the interdependence of operators, regulators, service providers, and other support services.

According to him, this is to encourage investment and growth of the sector, considering the mobility of resources between jurisdictions and competing energy supply sources.

The NMDPRA boss explained that this was due to the global energy landscape being continually impacted by strong forces, including market volatility, geopolitical tensions, artificial intelligence, technological advancements, and carbon neutrality targets.

Mr Ahmed added that technology was one of the most important resources to be harnessed in this regard.

According to him, technology presents both a challenge and an opportunity to the petroleum sector. Artificial intelligence, CCSU, hydrogen technology, energy storage, smart grids, biofuels, and marine technologies are among the areas that require special attention.

He said that the NMDPRA was committed to supporting all the above through carefully developed regulations and continuous stakeholder engagements.

Mr Ahmed added that the NMDPRA would continue to collaborate with other regulatory agencies, industry players, development partners, and societies, such as the SPE, to ensure that the petroleum industry remained sustainable.

(NAN)