Follow Us on Google
From Uche Usim, Abuja
Expectations are high as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the International Oil Companies (IOCs), the host communities of oil and gas assets and other stakeholders currently await the harmonised version of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) recently passed by the National Assembly.
Part of what they are itching to know is whether the host communities fund will be three per cent of the preceding operations cost of the IOCs or five per cent.
While the House of Representatives suggested five per cent, the Senate adopted three per cent. The development mandated a committee comprising members of both houses of the National Assembly to meet to harmonise their positions on that and other matters.
At a panel session at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum, Upstream, Bassey Akpan, appreciated the management of the NNPC led by Mr Mele Kyari for working hard to see to the passage of the PIB.
According to him, the NNPC and IOCs played a pivotal role in the success of the passed document.
He expressed hopes that the harmonised version of the PIB would address longstanding issues around security, foreign direct investment, deepwater investments, lower operational cost, among others.
He revealed that the National Assembly Committee harmonising the PIB would conclude its work next Tuesday (July 13) to iron out grey areas, especially on what the host communities would get.
‘We’re harmonising between both chambers. Between now and Tuesday, we would be laying down our report and then the law will be heading to the executive. We’ve captured all things we feel will move Nigeria forward.
‘We look forward to improvements, especially in the downstream and midstream; concept for the management of the host communities and all that. They can now take their destinies into their hands and we have wrestled off states’ overbearing influence. The Deep Offshore Act will be repealed since PIB addresses contending issues of that Act,’ he stated.
In his remarks at the session, the Chief Operating Officer, Refinery, of the NNPC, Mr Mustapha Yakubu, said a new company, NNPC Limited was underway, adding that huge investments like acquiring stakes in Dangote Refinery and other modular refineries were a step in the right direction for the morphing NNPC.
‘NNPC Limited without refineries is not good.
‘We’re going into PPP. Dangote Refinery has 650,000 bpd capacity and that is a huge investment. If we add that to the capacity of modular refineries, it is about 1.3 million bpd. It’s good for energy security and helps NNPC become a regional petroleum hub in the sub-region. We are taking equities in condensate refineries too. We have large quantities of liquid gas and when we dry the liquid, it becomes condensate.
‘Dangote will need crude too and so we have to collaborate,’ he stated.
Also speaking at the event, The Managing Director of Shell Nigeria, Mr Okunbor Osagie, expressed joy that the PIB was eventually passed after about 14 years of waiting.
‘Passing the PIB and removing the uncertainties that have been hanging over the industry is commendable. It has helped us to make decisions that rest on laws because it’s a long term investment industry.
‘The industry was consulted by NASS the executive arm through the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC GMD. Though we did not get a 100% agreement in all areas, we were well consulted.
‘When we see the harmonised document, I hope it meets our desires. Our hosts (host communities) play a central role in our operations not just the protection of assets, but the environmental impact.
‘Reconciliation factor between what is pumped and what gets to the terminal is 56%, meaning 44% of product disappears. This means Nigeria bleeds. So, with this document addressing that is good,’ he said.
