Perturbed by the spate of divestments by oil majors in Nigeria, the Federal Government has sought the effective implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to open up opportunities in the oil and gas sector.
Speaking during a consultative assembly of stakeholders in the oil and gas industry in Abuja on Wednesday, Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, said there was a need for innovative ways in the exploitation and exploration of fossil fuel in the country.
According to Sylva, effective regulations are key to harnessing the gains of the PIA, adding the government has a mandate of ensuring sound management of the oil and gas sector considering the role the sector plays in Nigeria’s revenue.
“If we must continue to be relevant at the global stage, we must, in designing regulation, focus on how we can balance the energy baseload for Nigeria so that we will not be left behind in the energy transition train while still harnessing our rich natural hydrocarbon reserves.
“The assent to the PIA by Mr President signalled a new era in the oil and gas sector of the economy after almost two decades of unsuccessful efforts to have the law passed. “The enactment of the PIA is expected to open up opportunities in the oil and gas sector,” he said.
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The PIA which was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2021, seeks to promote the exploration and exploitation of the Nigerian petroleum resources while promoting sustainable and effective development of the petroleum industry.
Gbenga Komolafe, the CEO of Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said it has become imperative for the commission to have a regulation-making process for the full implementation of the PIA in a manner that Nigeria can hedge against the impact of energy transition and take advantage of the oil and gas supply gap from the current developments in Russia and Ukraine.
According to him, the engagement seeks to give meaning to the intent of the PIA and in a manner that the regulations become attractive to investors and user-friendly in implementation.
“This is deliberately so because we are conscious of prioritising regulations to meet the timelines in the PIA. As such, this first phase of the stakeholder’s engagement captures discussions around issues dealing with royalty, licensing rounds, fees and rentals, implementation of host community fund in line with Section 235 of the PIA,” he said.
However, speaking to journalists at the sideline of the event, the chairman of the host communities of oil and gas, Jasper Jumbo, stressed the need for the PIA to be amended, especially as it relates to the host communities.
According to him, the PIA seeks to empower the NUPRC over the host communities, “in certain areas by the power vested on the NUPRC tend to enslave the host communities.
“We are talking of mutual co-existence and protection of critical installed national asset, that is why we as fathers and leaders in the region are coming in to say that we must be carried along, there is an organised host communities body which must be carried along, but what they are doing is to fragment, and this is not good for us,” he argued.
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