Buhari To Get Revised PIB In Days– Sources

The Ministry of petroleum will in the next few days present the long-awaited oil and gas reform bill to President Muhammadu Buhari.

This was disclosed to Reuters by three sources in the ministry.

The bill which is long over due for passage is particularly urgent this year as low oil prices and a shift towards renewable energy have made competition tougher to attract investment from oil majors.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva had assured in August that in two weeks the National Assembly will receive the Petroleum Industry Bill as part of process to pass it into law.

According to him, the passage of PIB would form the bases for major reforms in the industry.

The PIB was first introduced to the National Assembly in December 2008. A presidential committee set up in 2007 to look into the oil and gas sector came up with the idea of the bill, which aims to increase transparency at the NNPC and to increase Nigeria’s share of oil revenue.

Drafts of the bill, however, became very contentious due to objections from the international oil companies and the NNPC.

Consequently, the bill was never passed into law.

The PIB amongst other things looked into the ownership and management of petroleum resources, functions and powers of the Minister of Petroleum, the establishment of the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission which was to act as a regulator for the entire petroleum industry (upstream, midstream and downstream) and the restructuring of the NNPC.

Many oil companies believed new investments in the oil sector are dependent on the passage of the PIB which would take a more integrated approach in addressing issues around the fiscal terms especially following the passage of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (amendment) Bill, 2019 (PSC Amendment Bill).

Meanwhile reports have it that the bill is currently being probed by the Federal Ministry of Justice.