The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the activities of the defunct Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) do not fall under the operational purview of the commission.

Mr Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer, NUPRC, made the clarification in a statement issued on Friday in Lagos.

Komolafe said the commission would, therefore, not respond to allegations of non-remittance of funds into the Consolidated Revenue Fund by the defunct PEF.

He said the clarification was necessitated by reports in the media indicating that the Senate Committee on Public Accounts was expecting the NUPRC to respond to the query.

“The commission wishes to state that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Aug. 16, created two regulatory agencies for the oil and gas industry.

“The agencies are the NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

“The NUPRC is responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream business while the NMDPRA is responsible for downstream and midstream regulation in the Nigerian oil and gas industry .

“In furtherance of the PIA, the NMDPRA became a merger of PEF, Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and part of defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

“This implies that the activities of the defunct PEF are not within the operational purview of the commission,” Komolafe noted.

He said the commission would not be expected to answer any legislative query pertaining to the defunct PEF as alleged in the publications.

Komolafe advised the general public to disregard the uninformed allegations.

He said the NUPRC would continue to enable upstream business in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to create revenue streams for development of social infrastructure.