SCOPE AND MANDATES OF THE IM&HSE DIRECTORATE OF THE AUTHORITY
The Inspections, Monitoring and Health, Safety and Environment (IM&HSE) Directorate is one of the Technical Directorates of the Authority. The object of the Directorate is to inspect and monitor infrastructure and operational activities of Petroleum Service Providers (PSPs) to assure reliability, availability, and safety of the petroleum downstream industry infrastructure for effective and efficient petroleum services delivery for sustainable growth to secure the interest of all stakeholders.

The mandates of the IM&HSE Directorate emanates from Section 2 Subsection 2(f) and 2(h) of the National Petroleum Authority Act 2005, (Act 691) and are respectively stipulated as follows:

1. Monitor standards of performance and quality of the provision of petroleum services.
2. Investigate on a regular basis the operation of PSPs to ensure conformity with best practice and protocols in the petroleum downstream industry.
The Directorate has three (3) departments, and these are:
1. Refineries, Depots and Allied Facilities Department;
2. LPG Refilling Plants and Bulk Consumer Facilities Department; and
3. Retail Outlets and Premix Outlets Department.

The scope of infrastructure inspected and activities monitored in the downstream industry encompasses:

1. Discharge facilities such as oil jetties and offshore mooring facilities and associated pipelines;
2. Oil refineries, refined and derivative products processing facilities such as lube oil processing, etc.;
3. Storage and distribution terminals for both crude and refined products;
4. Transmission/transportation facilities such as pipelines and Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs); and
5. Retail outlets such as filling/service stations, Liquefied Petroleum Gas refilling plants, bulk consumer facilities, Premix Landing Beach Committee sites and Cylinder Exchange Points/Storage.

In pursuance of the above object, the Directorate undertakes the underlisted activities and grant approvals prior to issuance of licenses as well as authorizations to PSPs to construct and operate any of the petroleum downstream infrastructure:

1. Review facility technical documentation including designs and specifications;
2. Inspect proposed sites for adequacy and compatibility for the intended service;
3. Inspect construction and installations for conformance to prescribed standards for safety and reliability;
4. Inspect provisions of operations management systems and monitor same to assure safe operations;
5. Inspect established and operating infrastructure on a regular basis for at least once a year to ensure compliance with prescribed performance standards to avoid health, safety and environmental issues for sustainable performance and growth; and
6. Investigate incidents and accidents and other HSE related matters in the downstream petroleum industry.

Authorizations and approvals granted by the Directorate upon satisfying documentation, site requirements among others as published in the respective public notices of the Authority include:

1. No Objection letters for retail outlets;
2. Construction permits for all facilities;
3. Commissioning and Test-Run authorization for all facilities; and
4. Final authorization for the issuance of licenses to operate the named infrastructure above

IM&HSE Directorate further collaborates with other technical and support services Directorates in related matters in line with the overall interests of the Authority as prescribed in the Act 2005, (Act 691).