Breaking: House Of Reps Passes Petroluem Industry Bill

After nine months of legislative scrutiny, the House of Representatives on Thursday passed for third reading the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021.

Chairman of the House Adhoc Committee on the PIB, Rep. Mohammed Tahir Mongunu moved for the consideration of the motion at about 1.00pm on Thursday.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on September 29, last year transmitted the PIB to the National Assembly for passage into law.

The bill is expected to carry out significant reforms in the laws governing the petroleum industry, which had been encapsulated in two previous laws.

THE WHISTLER had exclusively reported that the proposed bill makes provision for creation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The bill, also proposed the scrapping of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency while the NNPC Limited will be incorporated by the Minister of Petroleum.

With his Finance counterparts, the Minister will determine NNPC’s assets and liabilities inherited by the new firm.

The bill also proposed the establishment of an agency known as the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, which will be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum operations.

When passed into law by the National Assembly, a total of 12 legislations in the oil and gas industry may be repealed.

The need to pass the bill into law had become imperative as low oil prices and a shift towards renewable energy have made competition tougher to attract investment from oil majors.

The Regulations that are expected to be repealed with the PIB are Associated Gas Reinjection Act, 1979 CAP A25 Laws of the Federation 2004, and its Amendments; Hydrocarbon Oil Refineries Act No. 17 of 1965, CAP H5 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004; Motor Spirits (Returns) Act, CAP M20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004; and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (Projects) Act No. 94 of 1993, CAP N124 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Also expected to be repealed is Section 31 of the Oil Pipelines Act, CAP 07 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004; Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Act 1977 No, 33 CAP N123 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria as amended, when NNPC ceases to exist pursuant to section 54(3) 83(3) of this Act; Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (Establishment) Act 2003; and
Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Management Board etc.) Act No. 9 of 1975, CAP P11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The PIB is also expected to repeal Section 7, Oil Terminal Dues Act 1965; Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Management Board, etc.) Act, 1975; Petroleum Profit Tax Act Cap P13 LFN 2004, and Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act 2019, as amended.

Also, the provisions of the Pre-Shipment Inspection of Oil Export Act, 1996 would be amended accordingly.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari had on Tuesday given an indication that the bill would be passed.

Kyari who is the Chairman of the Federal Government Technical Committee of the PIB had been invited to appear today for an executive session briefing.

It is expected that the bill would be passed by the lawmakers after the briefing.

The GMD had similarly held retreats for both the Northern and Southern House of Representatives’ Caucuses of the National Assembly in relation to the bill.

Kyari had described the legislation as a game changer in the sector, stating that when passed into law, the PIB would help to correct the fiscal regime in the oil and gas sector in line with current economic realities.

The GMD explained that once the fiscal regimes have been updated through the PIB in line with global standards, it will put the Federal Government on a right footing to be able to negotiate with investors and attract the needed investments into the oil and gas sector