PENGASSAN, NUPENG commend Senate for passage of PIGB

​The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Petroleum Industry Bill Committee have commended the 8th Senate led by Senate President Senator Bukola Saraki and its Joint Committee on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB)  led by Senator Tayo Alasoadura, for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) 2016.

The committee, according to its Chairman, Mr. Hyginus Onuegbu, said the development is indeed a milestone achievement especially, when one considers the fact that the PIGB is not an Executive Bill. ‘‘Also, when you consider that Nigeria has lost over $235 billion due to its inability to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law since the reform in the Nigerian Petroleum industry was kick-started 17 years ago. We therefore look forward to the concurrent passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) into law by the Federal House of Representatives and also eventual accent by the President of Nigeria.

However, the PENGASSAN, NUPENG Committee noted that the PIGB only deals with the one aspect of the PIB, which is the governance and institutional framework of the Nigerian Petroleum industry. ‘‘We therefore look forward to the passage of the other aspects of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) such as the: 

The Petroleum Fiscal Framework Bill; 

The Petroleum Industry Downstream Administration Bill; 

The Petroleum Industry Revenue Management Framework Bill and 

the Petroleum Host Community Bill.

The committee noted that the passage of athe PIGB whilst commendable  will not deliver the full benefits of the intended reforms, until the other aspects of the PIB are also legislated upon.‘‘For instance, we know that  there is no mention of the Petroleum Host CommunityFund in the PIGB and we know that one of the major challenges facing the industry is host community and Niger Delta issues. Until recently, following the truce by the Acting President, who visited the Niger Delta this year,   militancy in the Niger Delta led to   significant amounts of shut-inproduction at onshore and shallow offshore fields and frequent declaration of force majeure by oil and gas companies in Nigeria.