The President, Major General Muhammad Mohammad Bu Buhari (R), has passed the much-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill 2020 in the National Assembly and proposed the establishment of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited.
On Sunday, our correspondent saw the bill,
which also calls for the abolition of Nigeria's National Petroleum Corporation
and the regulatory agency that sets the prices of petroleum products.
The bill states that NNPC Limited will be
added’ by the Minister of Petroleum, who will work with his financial
counterparts to determine the assets and liabilities of NNPC to be inherited by
the new firm.
Section 54 (1, 2 and 3)) reads, "The
Minister (Petroleum) and the Minister of Finance shall determine the assets,
interests and liabilities of the NNPC so that they may be a part of the NNPC
Limited or its subsidiaries." After identification, the Minister will
transfer such assets, interests and liabilities to NNPC Limited.
NNPC's assets, interests and liabilities
are not transferred’ to NNPC Limited or its subsidiary under subsection 1 of
this section unless they are extinguished or transferred to the Government,
NNPC's assets, Interests and obligations will remain.
NNPC shall transfer its remaining assets,
interests and liabilities under section 1 to its interests, assets and
liabilities to NNPC Limited or its subsidiaries under section 1 of this
section. Or it will be transferred’ to the government.
According to section 53 of the bill, the
Minister said, “Within six months of the commencement of this Act, the
Companies and Allied Matters Act will result in the merger of a limited
liability company under the National Petroleum Company of Nigeria (NNPC Limited)
Will be called.).
The Minister will be on the involvement of
NNPC Limited, consult the Finance Minister to determine the number of shares
allotted and the nominal value which will make the initial payment share
capital of NNPC Limited and the government its Will subscribe and pay cash for
the shares.
"The ownership of all the shares in
NNPC Limited will be vested in the Government and the Ministry of Finance will
be vested in the Government.
The bill also proposes the establishment
of an agency called the Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission, which will be
responsible for the technical and commercial management of upstream petroleum
operations.
Section 4 of the bill partially states,
"There is a Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission (CRO) set up which will
be a permanent successor and joint seal body corporate."
"The commission will have the power
to acquire, seize and settle property, sue and prosecute in its own time. It
will be responsible for the technical and commercial management of petroleum
operations.
The proposed law also calls for the
creation of Nigeria's Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority,
also known as the Authority.
Section 29 of the bill states in part,
"Nigeria's Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NERA)
has been established there as a body corporate which is a permanent entity and
a common seal."
"The Authority will be responsible
for the technical and commercial regulation of midstream and downstream
petroleum operations in the petroleum industry."
The new bill technically abolishes the
PPPRA with the creation of new agencies that will now perform the functions of
the PPRA.
Efforts to reform the oil industry date
back to two decades ago, when then-President Olusegun
Obasanjo inaugurated
the Oil and Gas Reform Enforcement Committee in April 2000. The committee was
directed’ to review and streamline all existing petroleum laws and formulate a
comprehensive regulation. Framework for industry.
The project was continued’ by the
administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua and in September 2008, the PIB was
introduced’ in the Sixth National Assembly. But the bill stalled on
disagreements between international oil companies, host parties and the
federation over oil profits. Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative
In July 2012, President Goodluck
Jonathan's administration sent a revised version of the PIB to the Seventh
Assembly, but it suffered the same fate as the previous legislature. The House
of Representatives only approved it at the end of his term.
Global crude oil prices fell from $115 per
barrel in mid-2014 to 28pb in January 2016, and delays in approving the PIB to
worsen the state of the industry. It has also faced regulatory uncertainty.
READ MORE
0 Comments