The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has apologised to oil and gas ser-vice providers over inability to access its Oil and Gas Industry Service Permit (OGISP) portal, blaming the outage on an ongoing upgrade of its electronic licensing infrastructure.

The apology was contained in a statement issued by the management of the commission and posted on its official X handle yesterday.

According to the commission, the disruption was triggered by the migration and upgrade of its Commission Electronic Licensing & Permit System (CELPS), an exercise which commenced on November 6, 2026.

The upgrade has since locked service companies, contractors and consultants out of the OGISP platform, which is mandatory for operating in Nigeria’s upstream sector.

“The Commission offers its unreserved apology to all users who have had difficulty accessing the OGISP portal since the exercise began,” NUPRC said a note.

The OGISP permit is the primary regulatory gateway for companies providing services to exploration and production companies in Nigeria. Without a valid permit, service firms cannot bid for contracts, mobilise to sites, or renew existing service agreements with operators.

The portal downtime therefore means that new applications, renewals, and modifications that require regulatory approval are effectively stalled for the period, with implications for project timelines and compliance status of affected firms.

But the NUPRC said the upgrade was intended to improve user experience, strengthen cybersecurity and reduce turnaround time for approvals.

In recent times, the commission has ramped up the automation and shortening of its processes in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which mandates it to create an enabling environment for upstream investment.

This move has reduced paperwork, cut timelines as well as human interface and has blocked leakages in the issuance of permits by the commission.

“The upgrade is meant to improve user experience, strengthen the security of the system and shorten the time it takes to process applications,” the commission stated, adding that its technical team is working to complete the migration “in the shortest possible time.”

NUPRC said it expects the portal to be fully restored and running smoothly within the ‘next 24 hours’ from when the statement was made public. (THISDAY)