NATIONAL DATA REPOSITORY REGULATIONS, 2020

Regulations that govern the collection, storage, and access of petroleum data from oil operators. They target oil companies, government agencies, researchers, and investors to ensure data preservation and sovereignty. This promotes investment and research in Nigeria's oil sector.

What Is This Policy?

Regulations that govern the collection, management, storage, and access to geological, geophysical, and petroleum data submitted by oil and gas operators to the national data repository.

Who Does It Target?

Oil and gas exploration and production companies Department of Petroleum Resources / NUPRC Researchers and academics accessing petroleum data International oil data licensing partners

What Does It Aim to Achieve?

Ensure systematic collection and preservation of subsurface petroleum data, protect Nigeria's data sovereignty, and make data accessible for investment promotion and research.

Key Features

Mandatory Data Submission: Requires all licence holders to submit specified categories of geological, geophysical, and well data to the national repository. Data Formats: Prescribes standard formats for submitted data to ensure compatibility and long-term accessibility. Confidentiality Periods: Provides for confidentiality protection of submitted data for specified periods before public release. Data Commercialisation: Enables the government to commercialise data packages for sale to investors and researchers.

Current Status

Rollout Stage: Active Coverage: All petroleum licence areas in Nigeria Beneficiaries: Government; petroleum investors; research institutions Funding: Data licensing revenues; NUPRC operational budget

How to Access

Operators must submit data packages within prescribed timelines after acquisition Data requests by third parties subject to licensing fees Academic access may be provided at reduced rates Application method: Data access requests: contact the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Important Terms

Failure to submit required data is a breach of licence conditions Data submitted during confidentiality period is not publicly released Misrepresentation of data is a criminal offence

Official Resources

Website: https://www.nuprc.gov.ng Contact: Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC)

Legal Framework

The National Data Repository Regulations 2020 are issued by the Department of Petroleum Resources (now NUPRC) under the Petroleum Act (now Petroleum Industry Act 2021). They operate alongside the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (Section on petroleum data management), the Cybercrimes Act 2015, and the Data Protection Act 2023. International alignment is with the IOGP (International Association of Oil and Gas Producers) data management standards and the OSDU (Open Subsurface Data Universe) digital data exchange framework.