The House of Representatives passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (“PIGB”) on Wednesday 17th of January, 2018. This is following the passage of the PIGB by the Senate in May 2017.
What does the PIGB do?
The PIGB is one of four bills which seeks to incorporate the reforms proposed under the Petroleum Industry Bill. It addresses the reforms to the institutional framework of the petroleum industry. The key reforms include:
- the establishment of an independent regulatory commission – the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission, which incorporates the current Department of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency;
- the unbundling of NNPC into two limited liability companies, with one holding joint venture assets in the upstream sector and the other holding the production sharing contract assets;
- governance and accountability arrangements with respect to the new institutions created.
What is Next?
The next step in the process is the reconciliation of the versions of the PIGB passed by both Houses of the National Assembly. This process is not expected to take a long time as we understand that there are no significant changes in the different versions. Following reconciliation of the different versions, the Bill will be forwarded to the President for his assent.
Both Houses of the National Assembly are also working on the other reform bills – the Petroleum Industry Administration Bill, the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill and the Petroleum Host Community Bill.