Petroleum Industry Bill Passes First Reading

PIB passes first reading at Senate

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012 BY STANLEY OPARA 

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke       www.punchng.com

The new version of the Petroleum Industry Bill, which was sent to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan before the legislators went on recess in July, has passed through the first reading stage at the Senate.

The upper legislative chamber also pledged its commitment to quickly consider the bill because of its relevance and importance to the Nigerian petroleum industry and the economy as a whole.

Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Magnus Abbe, said, “Given the seriousness with which the leadership of the Senate is treating the bill, I foresee a speedy consideration.

“The first reading has been taken and the second is to be taken very soon.”

When asked when the second reading would take place, Abbe said it was the responsibility of the Rules and Business Committee of the Senate to determine that, adding that from all indications, the consideration would be quick.

He said the Senate understood the importance of the PIB, and would expedite action on it to the best of its ability.

“It is a bill that will generate a lot of interest since it is concerned with how we handle our hydrocarbon assets,” Abbe said.

The long-delayed and complex bill could be one of the most important pieces of legislation in the history of the country, changing everything from fiscal terms to the make-up of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Several drafts have been drawn up in recent years but have been scrapped or re-written because government, lawmakers and foreign oil companies could not agree on details.

The Federal Executive Council had approved the draft of the PIB prepared by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

The minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, had said the bill, which is an aggregate of about 16 laws in the oil and gas industry, would go a long way in making the nation’s petroleum industry the preferred destination of oil and gas investors.

She said one of the highlights of the new bill was the unbundling of the NNPC to give room for vibrant successor companies.

Some of the companies to be unbundled from the NNPC, according to the minister, are the National Oil Company, National Gas Company and National Asset Management Corporation, which will now be private sector driven.