Kachikwu: We’ll allocate oil blocks, pass PIB in 2017

Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, says the federal government will be allocating oil blocks and passing the petroleum industry bill in 2017.

Unveiling his goals, and that of the ministry of petroleum resources, for 2017, Kachikwu said Nigeria would exploit the relationship built by President Muhammadu Buhari in taking a road show to the UK and US.

“We are going to accelerate federal government revenues, look into areas where we could have made more money, so as to support the 2017 financing,” Kachikwu said.

“We are going to be seeking to attract investments and complete all the MOUs; the one in China, the one in India… we are looking to do a roadshow to the UK, we are looking to do a roadshow to the US with President Donald Trump coming in.

“We are looking quite frankly to draw on the relationship that the president has built over time. We are going to be conducting oil blocks allocations and marginal flow awards to try and raise money for the government.”

Kachikwu, who also spoke on the petroleum industry bill, said Nigeria’s  refineries would be revamped to produced at a utilisation capacity of 60 percent.

“We need to start the revamping of the refineries. The president has given us a matching order on that. We still remain committed on our goal of 2018: reduce importation by 60 per cent and 2019, try and exit the importation of petroleum products substantially.

“Now, are going to continue to focus on downstream issues. Although we have liberalised, there are still some challenges. We are going to see how we work within the liberalisation infrastructure such that we are able to take away the low-hanging difficulties.

“We are also going to focus on the Niger delta. It’s been too long a lingering issue. We are going to be working with every aspect of the presidency to try and find solution to this.

“We are going to run at a rocket pace. We have so much to do. First, we are going to firm up our policies, be able to gazette all our oil and gas policies and then pass the Petroleum Industrial Bill, PIB.”

Kachikwu praised Nigeria’s “influential role” in stabilising oil prices, saying he expects oil to trade in the $60s for the better part of 2017.

PIB: Senate set to introduce host community development legislation.

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday stated that the Senate would be introducing a Host Community legislation to complement the Governance and Institutional Framework Bill of the revised PIB that passed Second Reading at the Senate on Wednesday.

In a statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Special Adviser on Media & Publicity to the Senate President, Saraki stated that with the institutional and governance framework aspect of the PIB at the Committee Stage, it was necessary for the Senate to begin work on the passage of the host community development legislation, which is aimed at addressing issues relating to community participation, security, and the ecological debt incurred by host communities from oil extraction.

“For many years now the PIB has been stalled at different stages for one reason or the other,” Saraki stated, “At this point, the Senate is ready and willing to do everything that it takes to get Nigeria’s economy out of this recession — and the efficient and effective management of our oil resources is a key component of this.

“Now that the legislation to provide a governance and institutional framework for the petroleum industry has passed Second Reading, it is time to re-introduce the host community development legislation to address the legitimate agitations of the people of the Niger Delta,” he said.

By the calculation of the Senate President, work on the passage of the two key bills will be nearing completion stage before the end of the year.

The Senate President also stated that he has asked legislators from the Upper Legislative Chamber to work together and introduce the host community development legislation, within four weeks, emphasising the fact that the predicaments of host communities that have faced the adverse effects of oil exploration for decades need to be addressed.

The version of the PIB that is now at Committee Stage is sponsored by Senator Omotayo D. Alasoadura and Twenty-eight Co-Sponsors.

The Bill with the long title of “An Act to Provide for the Governance and Institutional Framework for the Petroleum Industry and for Other Related Matters” is aimed at creating an efficient and effective governing institution for the petroleum industry by defining clear and separate roles for all involved entities and establishing a framework for the creation of commercially oriented and profit- driven petroleum bodies that ensure value addition and internationalization of the petroleum industry.”

PIB finally passes second reading at senate.

The petroleum industry bill (PIB), which seeks to split the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into two independent entities, has passed second reading at the senate.

The bill passed the stage, and was referred to the committee on petroleum (upstream and downstream) for more legislative work after a brief debate on it.

Leading the debate on the bill, Tayo  Alasoadura, a senator from Ondo central and chairman senate committee on petroleum (upstream), said the PIB was first introduced in 2008, but that it was not passed in previous administrations of the national assembly.

He said the objective of the bill was to create efficient institutions, and to promote transparency in the administration of petroleum resources in the country?.

Alasoadura said the bill was the first in a series of its kind to reform the petroleum industry, adding that it would cure some? of the ills in the sector.

?”This bill provides for the unbundling of the NNPC into two independent entities, which are the National Petroleum Company (NPC) and National Asset Management Company,” he said.

“It also provides for the establishment of a single petroleum regulatory commission which will focus mainly on regulating the industry.

“The poor performance of the NNPC is a major concern. The commercialisation of the corporation and its splitting into two entities is for more efficiency and to enhance performance.”?

On April 26, the upper legislative chamber ended debate on the bill abruptly, and its consideration was subsequently delayed until Wednesday.

This is the first in a line of bills on the petroleum industry.

Senate President Bukola Saraki said the next part of the bill would focus on the petroleum producing communities.

Nigeria Loses N61trn To Non-passage Of PIB

The country has lost $200 billion, translating to N61.1 trillion, for failing to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a Bill expected to provide the enabling law for the petroleum industry.

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which revealed this yesterday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to halt the unending delay in the passage of the Bill.

This was contained in NEITI’s latest policy brief, titled: ‘The Urgency of a New Petroleum Sector Law.”

NEITI attributed some of the losses to projected investments, which it put at $120 billion ($15 billion yearly), that had been deferred due to regulatory uncertainty.

Economically, NEITI stated that the losses incurred due to the non-passage of the Bill had been huge, stressing that it had caused a haemorrhage on Nigeria’s foreign reserves and the value of the Naira as the country imported refined petroleum products worth over $26.4 billion.

According to the report, the Nigerian petroleum industry has continued to deteriorate due to the fact that the laws governing the industry are not sufficient for effective regulation and, in some instances, too outdated to be relevant in today’s global energy environment.

“Though eight years in the National Assembly, the motion around the PIB has been on for all of 16 years. Sadly, there is little about what is going on at the moment to suggest real movement or adequate learning from the past. The PIB ship should be rescued from a start-stop, unhurried and uncoordinated mode and brought swiftly ashore,” the report stated.

It then recommended that, “There is need for President Muhammadu Buhari to take the lead by investing his presidential capital on this all-important legislation, putting in place a mechanism for rallying the stakeholders to a consensus, and using this law as one of the pillars of the bridge to a much needed economic recovery.”

Comparing the situation to that in Ghana, NEITI asked Nigeria to learn from that country.

“The fact that Ghana passed the law for its petroleum sector two years after commencing the process should be a lesson for Nigeria.”

NEITI, however, lamented that there is no evidence that Nigeria has learnt from its past experiences to guarantee that the present journey will be any different.

It noted that the current efforts at reviving the process of enacting the law are already exhibiting disturbingly familiar patterns and have added a new dimension on whether the bill should be taken en bloc or passed piece-meal.

“The process of enacting a new law for Nigeria’s petroleum sector has gone on for far too long, and at enormous costs to the country. More urgency and better coordination are needed on the passage of this very important bill.

“The PIB is one of the most important bills ever to be contemplated in Nigeria’s history, yet the one that has taken the most time and generated the most activity without legislation.”

NEITI asserted that as an agency set up to enthrone transparency and accountability in the extractive industries, it had legitimate interest in a petroleum law for the country.

NEITI, therefore, recommended that an inclusive task team be urgently empanelled, with the president in the lead, and charged with building consensus among stakeholders.

“This task team should draw up a clear and well-communicated roadmap and fast-track the passage of the law in piece-meal rather than an omnibus approach,” it said.

PIB: NNPC Concerned Over Move By Petroleum Ministry To Assume Control Of Proposed IJVs

The attempt by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to assume control over the proposed Incorporated Joint Ventures (IJVs) and the Asset Management Company to be created by the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) may set the ministry on a collision course with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), investigations have revealed.

The original PIB submitted to the National Assembly by the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration had provided for the corporatisation of the oil joint venture (JVs) assets held by NNPC and the international oil companies (IOCs) into IJVs.

But the IOCs had opposed the establishment of the IJVs following concerns that the NNPC, which controls majority stake in the existing joint venture oil assets, might insist on operating the incorporated entities.

As a result, the IJVs were removed from the revised reform bill resubmitted by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 to the National Assembly.

However, the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has unbundled the PIB into three legislations for easy passage and also reintroduced the IJVs in the revised bill to resolve the cash call challenged hampering the existing JVs, which have accumulated to unpaid arrears of over $6 billion.

It was also gathered that splitting the PIB was done to ensure that regulatory and fiscal issues are dealt with separately.

The Ministry of Petroleum, it was learnt from a top NNPC source, is in the final stages of completing the comprehensive executive drafts of the split PIB.

It was also gathered that the first of the three pieces of legislation under the revised PIB being prepared by the executive arm of government is called the “Governance PIB”, while the version drafted by the Senate is called the “Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, 2016”.

Investigations have, however, revealed that the NNPC is not happy with the attempt by the Ministry of Petroleum to take over direct control of the proposed IJVs, Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and the Asset Management Company.

Read More: thisdaylive

PIB To Be Re-Presented Next Week – Saraki

The Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, is to be re-presented in the National Assembly, next week, for subsequent consideration.

 

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who disclosed this,yesterday, in Abuja,while declaring open the ongoing National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable, said the current 8th National Assembly, after consideration of the harmonized version of the bill , has slated next week to lay it before both chambers.

 

He added that the Senate and House of Representatives had resolved to do a joint work on the Bill.

 

The development is coming after many years of non passage of the bill by both chambers of the National Assembly.

 

Credit : Vanguard

FG Reviews PIB, Splits NNPC Into 2

Barring any last minute change in plans, the federal government is set to split the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into two.

A Reuters report yesterday said the government is putting finishing touches to draft that will also revisit the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which had stalled for years with a view to replacing it first with ‘a law to overhaul the sector which aims to close loopholes that bred corruption’.

The report said under the new plan, the NNPC will be split in two – rather than a series of units as envisaged by the stalled 2012 bill. It added that a National Oil Company, which will be run on commercial lines and partly privatized, will emerge.

Nigeria’s lawmakers have been divided over the contents of the current 200-page PIB.

In November, the petroleum minister said the government was working on a new PIB that would probably be passed in sections, particularly the thorny issue of a new tax regime that has been criticized by major international oil firms.

“The first new bill, drafted by the Senate and overseen by the oil ministry, is entitled ‘Petroleum Industry Governance and Institutional Framework Bill 2012’ and aims to create ‘commercially oriented and profit-driven petroleum entities.” It is expected to be presented to senators this week according to the report.

“The bill repeals the Act that created NNPC that contained legal grey areas that allowed mismanagement to go unchecked and billions of dollars in revenues to go seemingly unaccounted for as operating costs rocketed.

“Some noticeably problematic amendments are absent from this bill, such as allowing the oil minister to decide what to do with any surplus or allowing the Nigerian president to allocate oil blocks for exploration.

“But it remains to be seen whether further add-ons to the bill or later decisions will reconcile the conflict between what the new state oil companies need to run and what they should remit to the treasury,” the report added.

Credit: Leadership

House of Rep Pass Petroleum Industry Bill

House of Reps members today passed the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill. The House members had on Tuesday June 2nd suspended its deliberation on the bill due to some unresolved clauses and a committee was set up with the view of settling all the issues in the bill.

The members on resumption today chorused “Ayee” as the Deputy House Speaker Emeka Ihedioha called for a vote on the bill. The Petroleum Industry bill will among other things help create a more conducive business environment for petroleum operations and enhance exploration of petroleum resources in Nigeria.

Reps To Commence Consideration Of PIB Next Week

Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, says the House will commence consideration of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) next week.

Ihedioha, who presided over the plenary on Tuesday in Abuja, disclosed this to the lawmakers.

He said that copies of the report from the ad hoc committee on PIB were circulated to lawmakers for perusal.

It will be recalled that the Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee on PIB, Rep. Ishaku Bawa, (PDP-Taraba) submitted the report of the committee’s assignment to the House in March 2015.

The committee had scrutinised 363 sections and annexure of the original bill and made some amendments and recommendations.

The public hearings conducted by the 23-member ad hoc committee in all the geo-political zones provided opportunities for stakeholders to make their contributions to the bill.

The bill, which covered salient areas, is to ensure the establishment of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund and incorporation of National Gas Company.

Others are the establishment of Petroleum Directorate and National Asset Management Company as well as imposition of new tax regime such as Nigeria Carbon Tax.

The committee in its report recommended the removal of Section 191 of the bill, which gave the president discretionary powers to grant petroleum licenses.

However, the amendment recommended is proposing bidding process for the award of licenses.

Other amended areas include Section 174 which recommended that 30 per cent of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) shares be sold through public offers at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

It further amended Section 185, which proposed that 49 per cent of Nigerian Gas Company shares be sold through public offers at the stock exchange.

Under Section 116, the Petroleum Host Community Fund was created to benefit host communities of oil facilities and installations.

The committee retained environmental remediation funds under Section 203, which obligates petroleum investors to pay adequate compensation for the remediation of environmental damages.

Three conventional licensing systems, namely petroleum exploration license, petroleum prospecting license and petroleum mining leases were retained in sections 225 and 229.

The House of Representatives in Nov. 15, 2012 constituted the ad hoc committee on PIB with the mandate to look into the bill and make recommendations toward passing the bill.

The bill will provide legal, fiscal and regulatory framework for the development of the country’s oil and gas industry. (NAN)