19 July 2013, Abuja – Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has urged stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to support the quick passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB.
The Bill is before the National Assembly.
A statement issued by the NNPC’s Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Ms Tumini Green in Abuja on Thursday quoted the minister as making the call at the Senate hearing on PIB.
The statement said the bill was geared toward providing a win-win scenario for all stakeholders in the petroleum sector. It added that the powers proposed in the Bill for the President and the Petroleum Minister would ultimately rest on any administration in power at the time and so should not be personalised. ”The minister stressed the need for the law to sufficiently empower any administration to act in the best interest of the Nigerian people. ”By the time the PIB is fully articulated and implemented, the current President and Minister of Petroleum Resources will no longer be in office.
“This Bill takes a while before it becomes operational and the proposed transition period after the passage of the Bill is at least three years,” the minister said.
The statement held that the powers granted to the minister in the bill were not different from those vested on the minister’s counterparts by the petroleum laws of the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Norway.
“The PIB establishes a flexible fiscal regime that will increase government’s take and yet encourages investment in the petroleum sector.’’
On host communities, the statement said it was established to mitigate the human and environmental conditions in the region and to assuage the feelings of the host communities toward oil and gas companies. It said the PIB seeks to establish a legal, fiscal and regulatory framework that will revolutionise the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
– NAN