The Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB or "the Board") recently released seven (7) Ministerial Regulations at the session held during the 2022 Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference. The Ministerial Regulations were issued pursuant to the relevant sections of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICDA or "the Act"), which empowers the Minister (and or the Board) to make regulations with respect to training and development, and other matters in the oil and gas industry. The Regulations, which have a commencement date of 26 February 2021 (although made publicly available in 2022), were issued to provide pragmatic strategies for the implementation and enforcement of the Act, and they include:
1. Nigerian Oil and Gas Research and Development Regulation, 2021
2. Regulation for the Further Growth of Indigenous Capacity, 2021
3. Regulation for Training in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry, 2021
4. Regulation for Registration of Oil and Gas Professionals with Nigerian Professional Bodies, 2021
5. Regulation for the Establishment of Operations in Nigeria, 2021
6. Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Technology Transfer Regulation, 2021
7. Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Compliance and Enforcement Regulation, 2021
Nigerian Oil and Gas Research and Development Regulation, 2021
This Regulation is targeted at promoting the growth of research and development (R&D) using Nigerian facilities and intellectual resources, as well as monitoring, supervising and funding of such activities within the Nigeria Oil and Gas industry. This Regulation has given life to the provisions of sections 36 to 39 of the principal NOGICDA, with respect to the R&D requirements under the law. All operators are expected to comply with the provisions of this Regulation.
Based on the Regulations, operators are required to submit an R&D Plan within six months of submitting their Nigeria Content plan for each project. The Plan, which must contain the research programme, the nature of the R&D projects, the research scope, the research budget, and other research implementation mechanisms, amongst others, must be approved by the NCDMB and updated on a biannual basis. The NCDMB has the exclusive right to disapprove the research if the Board is of the opinion that the information regarding the research plan is inaccurate; the operator has an outstanding obligation from a prior plan or there are contradictions with the NOGICDA. Where such disapproval occurs, the operator will be required to submit a revised plan and correct the anomaly within fourteen (14) days of notification of disapproval.
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