Nigeria’s Oil And Gas Industry Can’t Be Competitive Without PIB-Expert

Fixing the challenges in the Nigerian oil and gas industry has become imperative as the country appears unattractive to foreign investors.

Speaking on the imperative of the Petroleum Industrial Bill on TVC News Business Nigeria programme, an Oil and Gas Governance Consultant Ademola Adigun, said that the fiscal terms such as governance structure, cost of production among others has made the sector less attractive to investors.

He said, “Nigeria oil and gas sector is no longer competitive, Nigeria is not a preferred destination for investment anymore.”

Adigun, while noting that Nigeria still depends majorly on oil revenue to finance its expenditure said there is need to address the challenges of the sector to ensure revenue sustainability.

He said the Petroluem Industry Bill is coming at the right time stating that efforts should be heightened to ensure its passage.

He said, “A country that depends so much on earnings from the Petroleum sector needs a Bill such as this to promote competitiveness and local participation.

“It has been a long time coming, in 2001 we had about five countries in Africa that were into oil and gas, but now we have up to 19 countries.”

He explained that the Bill is imperative as it addresses vital issues such as deregulation, host communities, and pipelines among others.

“This is the fifth attempt at getting this Bill, we have not done the right thing all the years. The value of oil is declining, hence we need this Bill for us to be competitive.

“Fiscal terms differ base on many things such as terrain, cost of production and number of foreign investments.

“For Saudi Arabia which is a matured market, with strong governance principle, it does not need so much fiscal terms like Nigeria. But we are still behind and we need to start getting it right.

“If you look at the issue of cost of production, it is very high at $27-$30, that tells you there is a problem and the oil prices will continue to decline for the next few years.”