The existing Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Petroleum Inspectorate (PI) may be scrapped if the new Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) is finally passed into law by the National Assembly.
According to findings, when passed into law, the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission will take over their functions as it is being done in the power sector where the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is the regulatory agency.
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), an omnibus law is meant to regulate the entire sphere of the industry and repeal most existing oil and gas legislations, and is currently under legislative consideration and represents the most comprehensive review of the legal framework for the oil and gas sector in Nigeria since the industry began commercial operations in the 1960s.
No doubt, it signals the dawn of a new era; an era in which restructuring and transformation could address many of the issues that have dominated the oil and gas industry in Sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy.
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) seeks to increase government revenue from oil, and as well lay down a strengthened legal and regulatory framework for the Nigerian oil industry, set up structures for the establishment of commercially driven petroleum entities; and promote transparency in the administration of Nigerian petroleum resources.
Some of the provisions in the bill are new powers being invested in the Minister of Petroleum to formulate, monitor and administer government policy in the petroleum industry; exercise general supervision over the affairs and operations of the petroleum industry in accordance with the provisions of this Act, among many others.
It also makes provision for the establishment of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the establishment of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
