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Tag: Petroleum industry bill

  • JUST IN: Senate fixes date to debate Petroleum Industry Bill

    JUST IN: Senate fixes date to debate Petroleum Industry Bill

    The Nigerian Senate has fixed Tuesday, October 20, 2020, as the date for the commencement of debate on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Twitter made this known in a series of tweets on Thursday.

    The Senate President revealed that the National Assembly (NASS) is going to suspend plenary for one month to enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government defend their respective budgets for the year 2021.

    He stated that he had informed his colleagues to prepare for the task so as to avert any delay in consideration of the bill, resulting from its decision to suspend plenary for one month.

    “In line with our resolve to break the jinx on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), forwarded by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly last week, we have fixed Tuesday, October 20, 2020, as the date for the commencement of debate on the Bill.

    “Accordingly, I informed my colleagues to prepare for this task so as to avert any delay in consideration, resulting from our decision to suspend plenary for one month to enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government defend their respective budgets for the year 2021.

    “The critical piece of legislation, after the debate on the floor by lawmakers, would then pass for second reading and be referred to the Joint Committees on Petroleum; and Gas for further legislative work.

    “We want to get the document to our Joint Committee before we suspend plenary, otherwise, the document will remain unattended to throughout the time that we would be handling the budget; and that means we can only come back to it around November or December, and that would be late.

    “It is obvious that everybody is waiting for the PIB to be attended to, but while we are going to do our best to deliver on this expectation, we will take sufficient time to work on it because it is a very sensitive document.

    “If we are able to take the debate, pass the PIB for second reading and refer the document to our Joint Committees on Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream); and Gas, the committee can keep work on the PIB warm, while we are working on the budget.

    “Our Joint Committee must do everything possible for us to have a document or report that we would work with in the Senate and something that Nigerians and investors will be happy with,” Lawan tweeted.

  • BREAKING: Petroleum Industry Bill scales first reading in Senate

    BREAKING: Petroleum Industry Bill scales first reading in Senate

    The much-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) on Wednesday scaled first reading on the floor of the Nigerian Senate.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Petroleum Industry Bill, 2020 passed first reading when the Senate moved into the presentation of bills for first reading.

    The Petroleum Industry Bill, 2020 was presented by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, the Senate Leader, and was read by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan.

    Recall that the leadership of the National Assembly (NASS) had on Monday said that the ninth Assembly will break the jinx of not being able to pass the PIB after several attempts.

    Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila assured Nigerians that the time had come for the passage of the bill.

    They spoke at a meeting of the leadership of the NASS with the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari and some other top officials in the Petroleum sector.

    The meeting was essentially to brief the NASS leaders on the focus of the PIB which the Senate President confirmed was forwarded to the Assembly about two weeks ago.

    “The PIB is said to be jinx actually for a long time. Probably from 2007 to 2019,” Lawan said in his opening remarks.

    “It’s either the bill or bills were sponsored by the Executive and not passed by the Legislature as was the case in 2007, 2011 in the 6th and 7th Assembly.

    “In the 8th Assembly, the Legislature sponsored the bill, breaking it down to about three, it passed but there was no assent.

    “Now the bill is an executive bill coming to the National Assembly. The two chambers promise that we will break that jinx.

    “We want to see an oil industry in Nigeria that is properly regulated, an oil industry that not only sustains the investment that we have but attracts even more investment, an oil industry that is very competitive.

    “So the Ninth Assembly wants to work with you, have a very clear understanding of every provision so that, at the end of the day, we will break that jinx together with you and provide the oil industry legislation that will make more effective and efficient at the end of the day,” Lawan said.

    The Senate President said it was the first meeting between the Petroleum Ministry and other agencies with the leadership of the National Assembly to discuss the essence and focus of the bill.

    Speaking in the same vein, Gbajabiamila was confident that the ninth National Assembly will break the jinx and pass the bill speedily.

    “The Bill has been long in the making for several years but I believe this is the session in which it will pass.

    “We will pass this Bill speedily, however, its passage will not sacrifice thoroughness. We will not sacrifice thoroughness on the altar of speed. Speed because it will be in the nation’s best interest.

    “In the House of Representatives, we have assembled a crack team of legislators who are versed in the workings of the industry. It is an Ad-hoc Committee drawn from the House Committees on oil, upstream, downstream, local content and gas.

    “So there is a crack team that will be working with you as we are all trying to go to the same destination.

    “Talking about passing it speedily, unfortunately, it is coming at the time when it will be competing with the passage of the budget,” Gbajabiamila said.

    The Speaker described the bill as “perhaps the most important piece of legislation that will come out from National Assembly in the lifetime of this government.

    “It is a most important piece of legislation because we all know what oil represents in terms of our economy. Everyone has been waiting for the arrival of the PIB.

    “That is the legislation that is on the lips of every Nigerian whether he knows anything about petroleum or not. It is the most popular and most common Bill. Everybody talks about PIB because oil represents the life wire of our State. That underscores the importance of this Bill,” Gbajabiamila said.

  • Senate scraps NNPC in new PIB bill

    Senate scraps NNPC in new PIB bill

    The Senate on Thursday passed a part of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    One of the highlights of the bill was scrapping the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the merging of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing, Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) into one agency.

    The bill stated that the National Petroleum Company (NPC) and Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company (NPAMC) are to replace the NNPC.

    According to the bill, the NPC and the NPAMC will be under the supervision of a newly created Petroleum Regulatory Commission (PRC).

    The PRC “shall be the Industry Regulator and Watchdog, responsible for licensing, monitoring, supervision of petroleum operations, enforcing laws, regulations and standards across the value chain”, the bill added

    The bill also gives the regulatory commission 10% cost of collection of revenues from other commercial agencies.

    ”The Commission shall establish and maintain a fund (‘the Fund’) from which all expenditures incurred by the Commission shall be defrayed. The NPRC is also empowered by the bill to spend ten percent of what it generates for its operations”, the provision added.

  • How Petroleum Industry Bill will benefit Nigerians – Sen. Alasoadura

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Senator Tayo Alasoadura, has said that the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), now awaiting final passage in the Red Chamber holds immense benefits for all Nigerians.

    Alasoadura in a statement in Abuja, said the PIGB would not only help to create more jobs for Nigerians but will also foster a conducive business environment for petroleum operations when signed into law.

    He stated that under the new PIGB regime, it will become illegal to employ foreigners for certain skills that can be sourced locally and that even where such skills are sourced from abroad, due to unavailability locally, it would be mandatory for Nigerians to understudy such an expatriate.

    While the PIGB will enhance exploitation and exploration of petroleum resources in the country for the benefit of all Nigerians, he said it would also increase power generation and industrial development capacity of the country through abundant domestic gas supply.

    He said that the law would also create profit-driven oil entities, encourage investment in the the nation’s petroleum industry and tremendously increase government’s revenue.

    “Government revenue from oil industry will increase,” he said. “This means more funds in the hands of government to engage in developmental activities, ideally. The downstream sector will become fully deregulated. In other words, subsidy will be totally removed.”

    He said the law will also bring about a fully deregulated and liberalized downstream petroleum sector, create efficient and effective regulatory agencies and promote the development of Nigerian local content in the oil industry.

    Besides, he stated that the emphasis on local content will not only be in the area of skills, but would also be applicable to materials sourcing, “This means more jobs for Nigerian local contractors, especially those from the oil producing regions.”

    The Senator stated that “The PIB vests ownership and management of all petroleum resources, offshore or onshore, in the Federal Government of Nigeria, which is to manage them on behalf of all Nigerians.

    “This means that irrespective of where the oil is found, it belongs to the government of Nigeria. Of course, equity calls for special consideration for localities where the resources are mined. This is taken care of by the Revenue sharing laws and other provisions of this Bill like the Host Community Fund.”

    He stated that since Gas is still under-focused in Nigeria and its potential as a source of energy untapped, the PIB seeks to maximize the benefits of the nation’s gas resources. “If well explored, this will boost power supply in Nigeria,” he said.

    He added that the PIB will also lead to the establishment of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Investment Pact Scheme (NOGIPS) which will ensure that components of the oil industry equipment can be manufactured locally.

    He said the new law further makes provision for the protection of the health, safety and the environment in petroleum operations, “what Saro Wiwa and co fought for, and the initial grudge of the Niger Delta militants – will be addressed to a large extent.”

  • Senate to pass Petroleum Industry Bill soon, says lawmaker

    Senate to pass Petroleum Industry Bill soon, says lawmaker

    Sen. Clifford Odia (PDP-Edo Central) on Monday said that the Senate would soon pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    Odia gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Auchi, headquarters of the Etsako-West Local Government Area of Edo.

    The lawmaker assured the people of the Niger Delta that the senate was working assiduously to ensure that the people of the South-South geo-political Zone get some signs of relief, with the passage of the bill.

    “There are so many of them, but talking about the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), that would be passed very soon. That has to do with the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and their subsidiaries.

    “And of course, as a Senator from the Niger Delta, who believes that the bill is indeed very important to our people, for the oil industry to become very well structured, so that our people can benefit maximally, that is the very one that is so dear to my heart,’’ he said.

    Odia said that the passage of the bill is to give way for proper restructuring of the industry, adding that the people of Niger Delta would benefit maximally from it.

    “The bill seeks to address all governance-related issues in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

    “We need an NNPC that will be smooth and commercially oriented, that can run efficiently and make money,” he said.

    The lawmaker said that the country cannot afford any further delay in its efforts at reforming the oil and gas industry, saying that it was therefore expedient to pass the bill.

    “I am very much sure that the bill will be passed in record time so that the people of the Niger Delta can get a sign of relief that all those problems with oil production would be reduced, so as to give way for the development of the region,’’ he added.