Following the third reading, the House of Representatives has passed Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, PIGB to ensure good governance, institutional framework and attend to other related matters of the petroleum industry.
Deputy Chairman, Ad-hoc Committee on Petroleum Industry Bills, Victor Nwokolo (PDP, Delta), who led the debate at the house of representative on the report, explained that the regulatory bill will attend to matters of NNPC and create National Petroleum Commission which will take over the functions of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR.
Victor Nwokolo disclosed that some subsidiaries of the NNPC had merged into an entity to be known as the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission. According to him, the House Committee adopted the Senate’s version of the PIGB. He stated, “Upon the recommendations of the new commission, the Minister of Petroleum Resources can grant, amend, renew, extend or revoke any license or lease required for petroleum or production, pursuant to the provisions of the Act or any other enactment.”
The bill which contains 13 years old 191-page bill seeks to unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, provides for the establishment of Federal Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated, Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company and National Petroleum Company and Petroleum Equalization Fund.
