The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has refuted claims that it issued a directive halting gas supply to power generating companies (GenCos) over unpaid debts. In a statement released on Wednesday, the authority dismissed the reports as “false and completely unfounded.”
According to the NMDPRA, it has not instructed wholesale gas suppliers to cease supplying gas to GenCos due to payment failures amounting to N2 trillion, contrary to recent media claims.
“It has absolutely no bearing on the information shared at a recent stakeholders’ engagement held in Lagos,” the authority stated, referring to a meeting with the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), and other stakeholders in the oil and gas sector.
The meeting, the NMDPRA clarified, was aimed at educating stakeholders on the implementation of the wholesale supply license as mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021. The agency emphasized the potential benefits and opportunities tied to this regulatory requirement, dismissing any suggestion of a directive to stop gas supplies as baseless.
