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Tag: PIB

  • Ekweremadu pledges accelerated passage of PIB

    The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, on Monday promised the National Assembly would expedite action on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    Ekweremadu spoke when he received a delegation of the newly elected National Executive Council of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), in Abuja.

    He said the Senate was mindful of the benefits of the PIB to Nigerians and those in the petroleum sector and would work to enthrone the envisaged major reforms intended by the bill.

    Uche Anichukwu, his special adviser on media, quoted the Deputy Senate President to have said: “I would like to use this opportunity to assure you that progress is being made regarding the Petroleum Industry Bill.

    “We are committed to passing the Petroleum Industry Bill because we believe that it is going to bring major reforms in the industry. We want to solicit your patience and also your support towards it.

    “We are hoping that very shortly our Committee will bring forth the report of the bill and we are going to give it an accelerated hearing so that Nigerians and those who are in the industry will begin to have the benefits of reforms intended by this bill.”

    He urged IPMAN to ensure steady supply of petroleum products to Nigerians given the enormous dependence of businesses on the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

     

  • PIB passage: Reps blame Presidency, NNPC for delays

    The House of Representatives yesterday accused the Presidency and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of delaying the passage the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.

    The lower legislative chamber which spoke through its Committee on Commerce, said the bill would have long been passed were it not for the constant reviews it has been subjected to by both the Corporation and the Presidency.

    The Committee chair, Hon. Sylvester Ogbaga (PDP, Ebonyi) who spoke in Abuja at a one-day interactive session on investment in the oil and gas sector, tagged, ‘Enhancing The Oil and Gas Value Chain,’ said the legislature would have passed the bill if not for its incessant reviews.

    He said: “People always think that the delay being experienced in the passage of the PIB is caused by the National Assembly which is very wrong. The bill would have been passed if not for the way both the Executive and the NNPC kept recalling it for content update and modification in line with current trends, so it’s not solely on the part of the National Assembly as Nigerians are being made to believe.”

    He explained that Nigeria as the largest market in Africa, offers unique investment opportunities in refining, storage, transportation and marketing of petroleum, petrochemicals and allied products and this would be enhanced with further reforms by the government.

    “The Nigerian oil and gas value chain is undergoing a radical transformation following government’s commitment towards the key legislative reforms and aspiration by gradually becoming the undisputed regional hub for gas based industries such as fertiliser, petrochemical and ethanol,” he added.

    Also speaking, an official of the NNPC, Dr. Soala Ariweriokuma, said in order to encourage investors, the Corporation has always  pushed  for due legislation for  enhancement of the oil and gas value chain in the country.

    He said there is need for lawmakers to expedite action by enacting relevant legislations that would minimise losses and maximise economic gains, adding that recent discoveries in the  sector have brought about a shiff in competition and the review of the tax regime to serve as an incentive in that direction.

    Dr. Soala said: “Nigeria may be a major producer of oil and gas in the world, but the world is not waiting for Nigeria to arrive. The recent discoveries of shale oil and shale gas in the US, Europe and China has adversely affected the market for Nigerian cargoes, especially to the US. Before now, Nigeria was shipping about 13 cargoes of gas to the US per annum, but that has been reduced to one due to the discovery of shale gas.”

    Another contributor, Chris Kaka of the Chartered Institute of Financial Investment of Nigeria (CIFIN),  called for the review of the tax administration in the country, particularly with respect to the period of tax holiday investors get.

    “ The indiscriminate giving of tax incentives to investors in the sector needs to be reviewed to favour the nation’s economy if we must correct the incidence of running our budgets on deficit which has been on since 2002.”

    He said a situation where a company such as the Nigerian Liquefied Vatural Gas (NLNG) would be given a tax holiday up to the period of ten years, is not healthy for the economy.

  • PIB should be broken up to speed passage – Minister

    PIB should be broken up to speed passage – Minister

    Nigeria should break up its long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to speed its passage through parliament, the Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has said.

    The bill aims to reform oil taxes and licences and overhaul the structure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Reuters reports.

    PIB has been more than five years in the making and has not been passed because of political wrangling over its many clauses. Oil majors are also unhappy about proposed fiscal terms.

    Uncertainty while it is being debated has held up billions of dollars worth of exploration and production. President Goodluck Jonathan sent the latest draft of the bill to lawmakers about two years ago.

    “I think that it (PIB) should actually be broken up at this point in time if that will allow it to move forward,” Alison-Madueke said at a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Abuja.

    “We have been pondering for some time now. Of course that’s something we have to look at alongside the National Assembly,” she said.

  • NECA seeks speedy privatisation of refineries

    The Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has urged the Federal Government to muster the political will and privatise the nation’s four ailing refineries.

    It argued that the government’s continued involvement in the running of the refineries amounts to waste.

    Its Director-General, Mr Olusegun Oshinowo, said the country runs four poorly maintained and inefficiently managed state-owned refineries sited in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna, which operate at far below their installed capacities, thus failing to deliver refined products but keep large employees drawing heavy emoluments from public coffers.

    Oshinowo said it makes no sense for the government to continue to run the refineries, which can be better managed by the private sector, wondering why the Federal Government is dragging its foot in taking this all-important decision for the good of the economy.

     

    According to him, privatisation of the refineries is more compelling in view of the fact that they have remained in comatose and failed under government’s management to refine petroleum products for local consumption, leaving the country to source for over 80 per cent on imported products with intermittent scarcity, which often rattles the national economy and puts Nigerians under undue pressure.

    He said: “The same courage and determination which this government has demonstrated in privatising the electricity sector, it can extend it to the refineries, so that we can save national resources that are going to turn around maintenance, TAM, every now and then for which we have not actually got appropriate benefits. I will want Jonathan’s administration to consider that as equally a worthwhile legacy to bequeath to Nigeria.”

    On whether the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) won’t address the issue of the refineries, Oshinowo asked: “How long have we been on PIB? Why can’t the privatisation of those refineries acquire a life of their own outside PIB? Which one will be faster to handle, privatising outside the PIB or waiting for the PIB that has been on the table for God knows how long?

    “I think we have to face certain serious policy issues in this country. For us and talking from my personal perspective, I do not see any reason why government should still be involved in those refineries.”

     

  • National Assembly raises hope on PIB

    National Assembly raises hope on PIB

    The National Assembly has raised hope on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    Its Committees on Gas Resources, Upstream, and Downstream at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja, said they were holding technical sessions on the bill to pass it into law. They spoke during a discussion on the ‘’Petroleum Industry Bill, its Passage and implementation- How will it move the Nigerian oil and gas sector to the next level? ’’ at the just concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja.

    They were represented by their Chairpersons, Nkechi Nwogu (Gas Resources, Senate), Emmanuel Paulker (Upstream, Senate) and Muraina Ajibola (Upstream, House of Representatives) at the session.

    The sessions, they said, were looking at the interests of stakeholders, such as the indigenous operators, International Oil Companies (IOCs), oil producing communities, impact and evaluation programmes, to move the industry forward.

    Nwogu said the sessions were examining issues hindering the passage of the bill, as well as helping to address them. She said the three committees were analysing the bill, improving its contents to boost performance of the industry.

    She said: “The bill has gone through public hearing and second reading. We, the (Chairmen), have gone to our different committees to hold technical sessions. In my committee, we are trying to see whether the contents of the gas are good enough or not. We are comparing the developments in the gas sector to what the government has proposed to be the best practices.

    “We are looking at gas production and exploration, and what PIB is talking about it. How would investors choose Nigeria as gas market’s destination ahead of other countries, is one of the questions we are asking ourselves at the committee. PIB is everybody’s concern since it is the only way of redefining the oil and gas operations. We would try and pass the PIB, even though there are other important issues waiting for approval. One of them is the issue of 2014 budget.’’

    Ajibola said a sub-committee had been constituted by the House to hold a technical session on PIB, adding that the Committee was looking at the upstream as it relates to PIB.

    He said the interests of local operators would be galvanised when the bill is passed.

    ‘’By paying attention to technical details of the bill, we hope to come out with a bill that Nigerians would be proud of; a bill that would protect and promote investment in the oil and gas sector and further ensure Nigeria is in a good position in Africa.

    “We know that oil and gas investments are at a standstill because the bill has not been passed. We are aware that Ghana, Benin Republic and Uganda are joining the league of oil producing nations soon. They have just discovered oil. The development is going to have a far-reaching consequence on Nigeria in the future if we address the problems in the industry and pass the bill.’’

    According to Paulker, the PIB is of importance to the National Assembly, going by the efforts being made to ensure its passage.

    Paulker said the Senate would do everything possible to pass the bill and further re-define the oil and gas.

    He said with the technical session in progress, Nigeria is getting to a level where the bill would be passed.

  • National Assembly raises hope on PIB

    The National Assembly has raised hope on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    Its Committees on Gas Resources, Upstream, and Downstream at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja, said they were holding technical sessions on the bill to pass it into law. They spoke during a discussion on the ‘’Petroleum Industry Bill, its Passage and implementation- How will it move the Nigerian oil and gas sector to the next level? ’’ at the just concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja.

    They were represented by their Chairpersons, Nkechi Nwogu (Gas Resources, Senate), Emmanuel Paulker (Upstream, Senate) and Muraina Ajibola (Upstream, House of Representatives) at the session.

    The sessions, they said, were looking at the interests of stakeholders, such as the indigenous operators, International Oil Companies (IOCs), oil producing communities, impact and evaluation programmes, to move the industry forward.

    Nwogu said the sessions were examining issues hindering the passage of the bill, as well as helping to address them. She said the three committees were analysing the bill, improving its contents to boost performance of the industry.

    She said: “The bill has gone through public hearing and second reading. We, the (Chairmen), have gone to our different committees to hold technical sessions. In my committee, we are trying to see whether the contents of the gas are good enough or not. We are comparing the developments in the gas sector to what the government has proposed to be the best practices.

    “We are looking at gas production and exploration, and what PIB is talking about it. How would investors choose Nigeria as gas market’s destination ahead of other countries, is one of the questions we are asking ourselves at the committee. PIB is everybody’s concern since it is the only way of redefining the oil and gas operations. We would try and pass the PIB, even though there are other important issues waiting for approval. One of them is the issue of 2014 budget.’’

    Ajibola said a sub-committee had been constituted by the House to hold a technical session on PIB, adding that the Committee was looking at the upstream as it relates to PIB.

    He said the interests of local operators would be galvanised when the bill is passed.

    ‘’By paying attention to technical details of the bill, we hope to come out with a bill that Nigerians would be proud of; a bill that would protect and promote investment in the oil and gas sector and further ensure Nigeria is in a good position in Africa.

    “We know that oil and gas investments are at a standstill because the bill has not been passed. We are aware that Ghana, Benin Republic and Uganda are joining the league of oil producing nations soon. They have just discovered oil. The development is going to have a far-reaching consequence on Nigeria in the future if we address the problems in the industry and pass the bill.’’

    According to Paulker, the PIB is of importance to the National Assembly, going by the efforts being made to ensure its passage.

    Paulker said the Senate would do everything possible to pass the bill and further re-define the oil and gas.

    He said with the technical session in progress, Nigeria is getting to a level where the bill would be passed.

  • ‘PIB’ll increase offshore opportunities’

    ‘PIB’ll increase offshore opportunities’

    The passage of fiscal and non-fiscal enablers in the the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) could add value to the economics of offshore investments, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Mr Austin Avuru, has said.

    He spoke during his presentation at the IP Week in London.

    Avuru, who spoke on “Petroleum Industry Bill: Increasing Investment Opportunities in the Offshore Nigeria,” said the non-passage of the bill was inimical to the industry’s progress.

    The PIB is supposed to help the oil industry in terms of restructuring the institutional and fiscal framework to promote transparency, efficiency, exploitation activities and maximise economic rent accruing to the government as it hopes to achieve 40 billion barrels of crude reserves and oil production of four million barrels per day by 2020.

    Avuru said foreign direct investment (FDI) to Nigeria dropped from $6 billion in 2009 to $2.3 billion in 2010 even though the “oil sector accounted for over 60 per cent of FDI inflow to Nigeria”.

    He also noted that signing the PIB has become imperative because of the emergence of other oil rich countries in Africa, a situation that has affected FDI inflow to Nigeria.

    Quoting the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), he said: “Between 1970 and 1990, Nigeria accounted for 30 per cent of FDI inflow in Africa, but only 16 per cent in 2007 due to emergence of other oil rich countries.”

    Aside from affecting FDI inflow, Avuru said the non-passage of the oil bill has had other adverse effects some of which include push back of “start-up dates for selected oil and natural gas projects, for instance, Bonga North and Sonam field development), to be undertaken by the international oil companies (IOCs), tremendous decline in exploration activities in the last seven years and the fact that only three exploratory wells were drilled in 2011 compared to over 20 wells drilled in 2005.”

    He, however, admitted that there had been some progress on the PIB, which has passed the Second Reading in the National Assembly.

    He noted that there were contentious issues stalling the passage some of which he identified as “power of the minister, the application of Petroleum Host Community Fund (PHCF), the funding of New Frontier Exploration Services and the onerous fiscal terms.”

    Avuru expressed optimism that the passage of the bill would help “decrease investors’ risk through a stable regulatory environment, redesign fiscal terms to maximise government take, provide significant opportunities in shallow offshore and deep water terrains while opening a window of opportunity to invest in a stable and commercially prospective oil and gas environment.”

  • PIB…Now, not later, please!

    As time ticks for the 7th Assembly, a bill before it, which will have direct impact on the people of the Niger Delta, is not getting the attention it deserves. The bill is known as the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). The bill has popular support, not only among civil society groups, but oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta, which have for decades borne the weight of degradation. The Environmental Rights Action (ERA) sees “some of the provisions of the PIB as a conflict resolution mechanism to the decades of violent conflicts, and the restoration of transparency and accountability in the petroleum sector in Nigeria”.

    It thus during the week urged the National Assembly to act quickly, adding that “ a PIB that will enjoy our acceptability and support will be that which will among others strengthen Nigeria’s sovereignty by investing the ownership of the petroleum resources in the Nigerian nation rather than the federal government of Nigeria.”

    It recommended that the Bill should strengthen the transparency and accountability drive by the removal of non disclosure clauses from the bill in line with the EITI principles; ensure the inclusion of communities interests in the petroleum sector, by allowing communities through Community Foundations to manage the 10 per cent equities being devolved to them and not to be swallowed up by administrative process under the petroleum Minister; ensure inclusion of provisions for the protection, conservation, and clean up and remediation; ensure the inclusion in the bill of adequate compensatory mechanisms for victims of the negative impacts of the operations in the sector; and ensure immediate end to gas flaring.

    These are issues that are very dear to the heart of an average resident of oil-bearing communities.

    Other issues, which ERA raised, include:

    That Section 2 of the PIB 2012 be amended by deleting the phrase “is vested in the government of the federation” at the end of the paragraph and insert in its place the phrase “is vested in the People of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Section 2 should now read “the entire property and control of all petroleum in, under or upon any lands within Nigeria, its territorial waters, or which forms part of its continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone, is vested in the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that a new S.2 (1) should be added that vests management and administration of petroleum resources on the government of the federation; that S.191 of the draft PIB be expunged, especially as it weakens the clear provisions of Section 190 (1) and (2), which provides for award of oil blocks by open, transparent and competitive bidding processes; that S190 (3) be amended by deleting the Phrase “except as provided under section 191 of this Act. S.190 (3) should now read “There shall be no grant of discretionary awards.”; that the powers of the Minister in Section 6 of the bill be properly scrutinised and that S.6 (k) be expunged in its entirety; that Sections 33, 63, 92 and 139, which entitles the institutions created by the PIB to accept gifts be expunged; that the PIB should make provisions that all information will be publicly available unless there exists a legitimate reason for non-disclosure, such as commercial sensitivity, security-related issues or other well-established and reasonable grounds for non-disclosure; that all social and environmental impact assessments be made public, available and accessible as should studies that are conducted in the course of carrying out Social and Environmental Impact Assessments, and studies relied upon for such assessments; and many others.

    The legislators will be writing their names in gold by hearkening to these calls. They will be glad they do and joy will envelope the Niger Delta.

     

  • Mark to committee: Conclude work on PIB, Malabu Oil probe

    Mark to committee: Conclude work on PIB, Malabu Oil probe

    Senate President, David Mark, on Wednesday asked the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) to take steps to conclude work on the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the probe of Malabu Oil.

    This followed a Point of Order raised by Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Ekiti North) on the undue delay in passing the PIB and investigation into activities surrounding the sale of Malabu Oil.

    The Senate committed the PIB to its committee on Petroleum (Upstream) on March 7, 2013 for further legislative work while the probe of Malabu Oil was assigned to the same committee in July 2013.

    Adetunmbi in his Point of Order told the Senate that he was at a function where the issue of the PIB and Malabu Oil were raised.

    He said that he was asked why the Senate had not done work on the PIB and investigation into Malabu Oil.

    He noted that participants at the function insisted that the massive corruption going in the country’s oil and gas sector was as a result of none passage of the PIB.

    The lawmaker said the participants at the forum believed that the passage of the PIB will go a long way in curbing corrupt practices going on in the sector.

    Adetunmbi added, “On coming back from the conference I had to check my records and I found out that the Petroleum Industry Bill after debate was committed to the appropriate committee on Thursday March 7, 2013.

    “It will be one year next month. As it stands nothing seems to be going on about the bill.

    “The Malabu oil probe was committed to relevant committee in July 2013 about seven months ago.

    “It may interest this Senate that an international extractive agency advocacy group did a letter on July 6, 2013 to the Italian and Netherlands government requesting for public investigation of the role of companies from both countries as part of public accountability in the two countries.

    “The same letter was written to the European Union (EU).

    “The Italian, the Netherlands and EU parliament is about concluding public investigation and the outcome of the investigation will be made public very soon.

    “I think as Senators, it is a privilege that we should know what is going on so that the reputation of this parliament is not called to question.

    “This is because I fear a situation where if the report of European parliaments is reporting issues that affect our economy and our own parliament, the apex parliament in Nigeria is seen not to do what it is supposed to do one year after I believe it will affect all of us collectively.”

     

  • Missing oil money: Falana urges National Assembly to pass PIB

    Missing oil money: Falana urges National Assembly to pass PIB

    Lagos lawyer Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    He said this would show that the federal legislators are genuinely interested in promoting accountability and transparency at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and in the oil and gas industry.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, titled: The Limit of Investigative Powers of the National Assembly, the frontline lawyer regretted that the PIB appeared to have been quietly jettisoned by the lawmakers.

    According to him, the lawmakers were beating their chests for enacting irrelevant laws, such as the Anti-gay Act (“same-sex was never recognised under the law”), the Prisoners Exchange Act (to swap convicts with the United Kingdom when there are no British prisoners in Nigeria), among others.

    Falana said it was shameful that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor (Sanusi Lamido Sanusi) did not seem to understand the operations of the federation account, which is kept at the apex bank.

    The lawyer noted that this was the reason “…his (Sanusi’s) figures of the missing fund have varied from $49.8 billion to $12 billion and $20 billion, while the reconciliation carried out by the finance minister showed $10.8 billion.”

    Falana urged the auditor-general of the federation to audit the federation account and the accounts of the NNPC and the CBN before the nation is further exposed to ridicule by the CBN, NNPC and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    He said: “In particular, the auditing of the CBN account should cover the illegal payment of over N2 trillion by the CBN to fuel importers in 2011 when the National Assembly appropriated N245 billion.”

    The lawyer recalled that before the 2012 national strike and mass protests, the CBN governor claimed that the amount involved was N1.3 trillion.

    Falana urged the auditor-general to also examine the validity of the several billions of naira allegedly withdrawn from the federation account without appropriation in the last five years and donated to certain individuals and institutions by Sanusi.

    He advised the Senate and the House of Representatives to desist from “endless probes” and concentrate on law making, “now that it is clear that the National Assembly lacks the power and the technical expertise to audit the federation account.”

    The frontline lawyer noted that if the National Assembly had seriously considered the reports submitted each year by the auditor-general and taken actions, the nation would not have heard the accusations and counter-accusations among senior government officials.

    Falana said: “In the last 15 years, the National Assembly has carried out diversionary probes of several agencies and departments without results.

    “It is pertinent to point out that the powers of investigation conferred on the National Assembly, under Section 89 of the Constitution, are meant to be exercised for law making. To that extent, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) and Nigeria Police Force should be allowed to investigate complaints of corruption, fraud and other economic and financial crimes, in line with the provisions of the laws.

    “The practice of usurping the statutory powers of such bodies by the National Assembly should stop. More so that reports of the investigation conducted by the National Assembly are usually turned over to the anti-graft bodies, which have to commence fresh investigation.

    “This is what happened last week when the Finance Committee of the Senate was compelled to call for an audit of the NNPC account in the middle of a probe.”

    The lawyer said it was embarrassing that the Finance minister and the Senate did not know, ab initio, that they were not empowered to audit any of the accounts of the ministries and agencies of the Federal Government.

    He recalled calling on the National Assembly to stop what he called diversionary probe and his request to the auditor-general to audit the federation account and submit his findings to the National Assembly pursuant to Section 85 of the Constitution.

    Falana added that the decision of the Senate that the NNPC accounts be subjected to a forensic audit was the result of the alleged confusion the CBN governor caused with “conflicting figures” over the actual amount allegedly missing from the federation account.