Petroleum Policy Implementation and Institutional Capacity: Evaluating the NUPRC’s Readiness for PIA 2021 Mandates

This study evaluates the institutional readiness of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to implement its expanded mandates under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021. The PIA consolidated multiple predecessor agencies into the NUPRC, significantly expanding its regulatory scope across upstream licensing, data management, environmental oversight, and community development. Using an institutional capacity assessment framework, the research analyses NUPRC organisational structure documents, staff competency profiles, budget allocations from 2021 to 2024, and agency performance benchmarks from NUPRC annual reports. Interviews are conducted with eight NUPRC senior officials and five industry stakeholders. Findings show that NUPRC faces critical capacity gaps in environmental engineering, data science, and community liaison functions relative to its expanded mandate. The study identifies underfunding and slow recruitment of specialist technical staff as the primary institutional bottlenecks. The research recommends a phased capacity building plan, co-funded by the NUPRC levy on licensees, with a ten-year horizon for full institutional readiness. These findings are valuable for petroleum policy professionals, government officials, and public administration specialists engaged in regulatory reform. Keywords: institutional capacity, NUPRC, PIA 2021, regulatory reform, petroleum policy.