A ground swell of support for the proposed Nigerian Oil Industry reform legislation designed to position the industry on the path of growth and sustainable development appeared on the horizon at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas yesterday, as key stakeholders harped on the importance of the bill.
The event was the Petroleum Exploration Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) OTC seminar, which has over the years emerged an integral part of Nigeria’s participation in the annual global oil and gas conference.
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu kicked off the session with a presentation titled: Post PIB Challenges, Prospect and Opportunities to herald what turned out a well-rounded discussion.
Describing the PIB as an essential tool for the sustainable development of the industry in the country, Engr. Yakubu emphasized that the proposed law presents multi-dimensional approach to the nation’s oil and gas resource management that will ensure greater active contribution by players and stakeholders under prudent government structure of the industry.
“It also stipulates guidelines for operations in the upstream and downstream sectors, which can be viewed in terms of the following thematic areas: policy, legal and regulatory dimensions, economic dimensions including participation and ownership, knowledge based human and institutional capabilities, environmental stewardship as well as governance structure for sustainable resource development,” Yakubu said.
Commenting on the introduction of the Petroleum Host Community Fund, he informed that the proposed fund incorporates lessons learnt from the Niger Delta on all new frontiers.
“The fund is a mechanism to formally recognize host communities as important stakeholders by assigning oil and gas infrastructure security to the host communities and minimizing environmental degradation due to vandalism and crude oil theft,” he said.
“The fund also incorporates penalties to host communities in the event of vandalism in their localities. The proposed legislation includes modalities for using regulations to increase flexibility in managing host community issues.”
In his contribution, Senator Emmanuel Paulker, chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream reiterated the readiness of the Senate to work with the Executive in ensuring the smooth passage of the bill.
“I cannot commit to any particular date but I know that this PIB must be passé,”’ he said.
Paulker thanked the Executive for ensuring that this time around, there was no issue of duplication or circulation of different versions of the draft bill.
House Minority Whip and Chairman House Committee on PIB, Honourable Samson Osagie also restated the commitment of the National Assembly to ensuring passage of the bill.
“The position of the National Assembly on the Petroleum Industry Bill is that we are passionate about passing this bill into law because it consolidates about 16 legislations in the sector; and for the first time, the Nigerian Government is coming out to say that this industry needs to be reorganized and reformed so that the eventual benefit will get to the government and people of Nigeria.”
Hon. Osagie stated the determination of the National Assembly to strike the delicate balance that will not compromise the interest of the nation or chase away potential investors. He however debunked claims by some International Oil Companies that the proposed fiscal regime in the PIB is one of the toughest in the global oil and gas industry.
“I don’t think that in all its entirety, the fiscal regime as contemplated by the PIB remains the harshest in the industry worldwide but I believe that there are some sections that we may need to look at, especially in the area of gas exploration. We may need to work hard to ensure that we attract the right investment.”
Earlier, Mark Ward, Managing Director of ExxonMobil, speaking on behalf of the IOCs expressed the readiness of the industry operators to work with relevant stakeholders and the National Assembly in ensuring the passage of a balanced oil reform law.
