The new Petroleum Industry Bill which is currently before the National Assembly is expected to herald the repeal of the eight laws that are currently guiding the operations of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Speaking last week in Abuja at a round table on the new law, the Company Secretary, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Prof. Yinka Omorogbe disclosed that existing law guiding the nation’s oil and gas sector would be repealed once the new Petroleum Industry Bill is passed.The rSkip to next paragraphoundtable on the bill was convened by the Africa Network for Environmental and Economic Justice.
According to Omorogbe, the laws that would be repealed include : the Petroleum Act of 1969 and amendments, Petroleum Profit Tax Act and amendments, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Act and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Act.
Others are: the Oil Pipelines Act, Associated Gas Re-injection Act with the Regulations, Petroleum Equalisation Fund Act and Petroleum Technology Development Fund Act.Giving an insight into the impending reform that culminated into the new Oil and Gas Sector laws, Omorogbe who was a member of the reform committee explained that the reform did not recommend any review of the structure and operations of the Petroleum Training Institute, Efurum, Delta State, neither did it interfere with contractual agreements entered into by government with third-party partners in the sector. She told the gathering that laws governing all agencies in the oil and gas industry will now be subsumed under the new Petroleum Industry Bill.
Omorogbe, a Professor of law added that before arriving at its recommendations, the committee consulted widely with all stakeholders in the sector, but explained that it did not think it was important to seek the opinion of multinationals because her committee felt that it was a Nigerian government reform programme.
Discussion about this post