04 January 2012, Sweetcrude, LAGOS – The continued delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has become an embarrassment to Nigeria, and poses a lot of credibility problem for the government, the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, has said.
The policy instability, it further argued has caused a lull in the industry, as investors have become skeptical about the country and waiting for the passage of the bill to determine where to put their money.
These and more were part of the business and industry assessment made by NAPE, which President, Mr. Afe Mayowa, at a recent interaction with journalists in Lagos, noted that there was also the need to embark on an aggressive policy on reserves addition.
Also chipping in, the NAPE Vice President, Mr. Seye Fadahunsi, noted that the oil majors have suspended further investments in the industry, pending the passage of the PIB.
He said the association has made its views known to government on knotty industry and economic issues, adding that NAPE was currently preparing its members to take advantage of the benefits in the bill when passed. “Next year (2012), we will engage in a lot of education of both the executive and the legislature on the need to pass the industry bill.”
Mayowa also noted that in the renewed thrust in exploration in which there is a serious competition for capital and supply preference, “an all-encompassing enabling environment will be required to ginger renewed exploration activities in major hydrocarbon heartlands and frontier basins.”
In this regard, he commended the Federal Government for its Amnesty Programme, while pleading for it “to make it all-encompassing and also begin to use this opportunity to create a solid platform for a sustainable development and education of the youth in the Niger Delta.”
He further argued that government should do more in the area of infrastructure provision especially in the host communities, saying that oil companies were doing their best in this regard and government should complement their efforts.
