The President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Festus Osifo, has warned that frequent alterations to Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory framework are undermining investor confidence and threatening the long-term growth of the oil and gas industry.
Osifo spoke at the opening of the 5th PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit (PELS) in Abuja, where he called for a predictable, transparent, efficient and fair regulatory environment capable of attracting sustained investment into the sector.
He said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 represented a major milestone after decades of attempts to reform Nigeria’s petroleum industry, but expressed concern that five years into its implementation, key aspects of the framework had been altered.
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According to him, the removal of some fiscal provisions from the PIA and their movement to the Nigeria Revenue Act, as well as the use of an executive order to amend provisions of the petroleum law, could weaken investor confidence and create uncertainty in an industry requiring long-term capital commitments.
“These do not instil confidence or promote stability. Instead, they amplify uncertainty and disruption,” Osifo said.
The PENGASSAN president, who spoke on the summit theme, “Strengthening Regulatory Frameworks as a Catalyst for Stability and Growth in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry,” stressed that the industry could not thrive without regulatory certainty.
“Oil and gas is one of the most capital-intensive industries in the world. Investments made today may have expectations extending decades into the future. Such investments require safe thinking.
“Investors need clear rules. Operators need predictability. Workers need protection. Host communities need confidence. Governments need sustainable revenues. Nigerians need an industry that translates our enormous hydrocarbon resources into economic prosperity,” he said.
Osifo said the challenge facing the industry was not necessarily the number of regulatory institutions but the efficiency and clarity of their mandates, warning that overlapping responsibilities could subject operators to repetitive approvals, multiple inspections and conflicting directives.
He therefore challenged regulators to simplify approval processes and eliminate unnecessary duplication, saying delays could discourage investors and frustrate projects capable of increasing Nigeria’s oil and gas production.
“Are our approval processes sufficiently efficient to attract investment? Can operators make long-lasting decisions with certainty about our fiscal and regulatory environment?” he asked.
The labour leader also called for stronger support for indigenous operators while insisting that operational and safety standards must not be compromised in the drive to attract investment.
He said Nigeria needed “smarter regulations” rather than weak regulations—rules that understood commercial realities, embraced technology and eliminated unnecessary duplication while maintaining effective oversight.
“What we require is not weak regulations. What we need is smarter regulations. Regulations that understand commercial realities, embrace technology and eliminate unnecessary duplication,” Osifo said.
He further warned that regulatory reform must go hand in hand with enforcement, particularly in the areas of health and safety, environmental protection, local content, labour practices and operational integrity.
“The life of a Nigerian worker must never become the price we pay for increased production,” he declared.
Osifo also raised concerns over the effect of acquisitions and divestments on workers in the industry, insisting that changes in ownership of oil and gas assets should not be used as a basis for abandoning workers’ rights.
“Licences and assets may change hands, but workers are not commodities to be discarded at will. When major acquisitions and divestments occur, jobs, pensions, collective bargaining agreements and other established rights of workers must be protected,” he said.
The PENGASSAN president also demanded stricter enforcement of Nigeria’s local content framework in the employment of expatriates, saying foreign expertise should only be deployed where genuine skills gaps exist.
According to him, expatriate approvals should be tied to succession plans, understudy arrangements and measurable knowledge transfer to Nigerians.
“We cannot breach local content in procurement while neglecting local content in employment and human capital development,” Osifo said.
He urged regulators and operators to ensure that every expatriate engagement ultimately resulted in increased Nigerian capacity and the localisation of positions where qualified Nigerians were available.
On production, Osifo said Nigeria should not be satisfied with merely recovering lost crude oil output, but should unlock new reserves, attract fresh capital and sustainably increase crude oil and gas production.
He also called for greater investment in domestic refining, gas processing and LPG, CNG and LNG infrastructure, stressing that Nigeria’s abundant gas resources could support power generation, petrochemicals, fertiliser production, transportation and industrialisation.
“Resources beneath the ground create little value until investments are made to make them usable,” he said.
Osifo further called for stronger collaboration among government, regulators, operators and organised labour, arguing that no single stakeholder could build the industry Nigeria needs.
“Without investment, there will be no project. Without projects, there will be no sustainable jobs. Without production, there will be no revenue. And without fairness and stability, none of these can endure,” he said.
He said PENGASSAN remained committed to an oil and gas industry where both capital and labour could prosper, while urging employers to recognise workers as critical human capital rather than mere costs.
“Workers are the human capital upon which success, safety, productivity, innovation and sustainability of the industry depend,” Osifo said.
He called for stronger collaboration among employers, labour and regulators to promote international best practices, occupational safety, fair labour practices, productivity, technological advancement, skills development, responsible corporate governance and respect for collective bargaining.
According to him, industrial peace should not merely mean the absence of strikes or disputes, but should be anchored on justice, mutual respect, effective communication, responsible engagement and shared prosperity.
Osifo also used the occasion to highlight the social interventions of the PENGASSAN Foundation, including the construction and renovation of schools, payment of hospital bills for indigent Nigerians, provision of transformers to communities and support for vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities.
He said the 2026 summit was particularly significant to him as it would be his final PELS address as PENGASSAN president ahead of the association’s National Delegate Conference.
Looking back on the evolution of the summit, Osifo said PELS had grown from an initiative conceived by the association’s Central Working Committee and approved by its National Executive Council into a major platform for dialogue among labour, government, regulators, operators, investors and other stakeholders in the energy industry.
He expressed confidence that the summit would continue to grow and influence Nigeria’s energy sector beyond his administration.
“My expectation is that PELS will continue to grow after this administration, becoming stronger and more consequential in shaping Nigeria’s energy industry and protecting the interests of our members,” he said.
Osifo thanked the association’s sponsors and partners for their continued support of the summit and urged stakeholders to use the 2026 edition to develop practical pathways towards a more stable, productive and worker-friendly oil and gas industry.
He said the ultimate objective should be an industry in which regulation enables rather than frustrates investment, production grows sustainably, workers are protected, and Nigerians derive greater value from the country’s hydrocarbon resources.