The Dispute Solutions Hub (TDSH), along with NUPRC management, recently anchored a high-level Sensitization and Consultative Forum on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The conversation brought together senior stakeholders from the upstream oil and gas industry, legal practice, and the dispute-resolution community to examine a central question: how can disputes in the upstream petroleum sector be resolved in a way that preserves value, protects relationships, sustains business, and reflects commercial reality?
Participants engaged in candid discussions around trust, safeguards, and adoption barriers, emphasizing that confidence in process is as important as outcomes. Confidentiality, institutional independence, and industry understanding were repeatedly identified as critical to encouraging early and voluntary use of mediation.
The Forum reinforced a shared vision of dispute resolution not as a battleground, but as a strategic tool; one that is capable of shortening timelines, preserving commercial and community relationships, and unlocking value that would otherwise remain trapped in process.
As Nigeria’s upstream sector continues to evolve, so too must the mechanisms for managing conflict within it. The shift from confrontation to collaboration is no longer aspirational; it is increasingly a commercial and social necessity.
Will the industry ever adopt this? What do you think?
mediatoryemi 