On the back of the feats recorded in the oil and gas sector last year, such as the amendment of the Deep Offshore (and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contact) Act, signing of the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Nigeria LNG Train 7 project as well as the discovery of crude oil in the North, President
Minister of State for
Sylva told reporters that developing the petroleum industry and improving the relationship between the industry and the ordinary citizen were the two broad mandate of the president for the sector, adding that Buhari was keen to take the industry from where it currently stands to the next level.
He said
'Today we are producing, according to
Pass PIB by
Counting on the current harmony between the executive and legislative arms, there is optimism that the Petroleum Industry Governance, Administration and Host Communities Bill and the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill will be passed within the first anniversary of this administration.
Sylva said the team working on the PIB was at the final stage of the harmonisation of all the existing versions from 2000 to date (2009, 2012, and 2018) with consideration to the concerns raised by the industry players.
In the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), an aspect of the broader PIB which was passed by the
This time, Sylva said the federal government was considering two regulators in the PIB, that is at the final stage of the harmonization.
One of the regulators will be for the Upstream (the commission) while the other will be for the Midstream and Downstream (the authority).
The midstream and downstream sectors, according to the minister, will particularly open enormous opportunities to local investors and consequently create massive job opportunities, adding that the government was coming up with more robust fiscal provisions, acreage management and drilling-or-drop programme on the upstream side
N97 per litre fuel for common man
Asked whether government was going to reduce the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol, the minister said there were plans to provide alternative fuel that is cheaper.
He revealed that plans are underway to provide Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as fuel for the common man that will cost between N95 to N97.
'What we have decided is that we should try and give the masses an alternative. CNG costs less than the subsidised PMS. Per litre, the subsidised rate of the PMS is N145 per litre but CNG will cost about N95 to N97.'
Marginal field rounds
Countries normally issue oil licenses to grant companies rights to search for oil deposits in what is typically called a licensing round. Awarding oil licenses is necessary for the government to raise revenues, meet production targets and increase oil reserves.
In 2017, the federal government through the
But Sylva said 2020 remained an important year for
2020, the year of gas
The minister had earlier in the year declared 2020 as the year of gas for the nation.
Recognising the potential of our enormous natural gas resources and the unprecedented growth in domestic gas demand, the federal government through the
One of the recent initiatives is the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialization Program me (NGFCP), approved by the
The federal government had in November, 2018 called for Expression of Interest (EoI) in the NGFCP. The 205 out of 850 companies that emerged successful will be invited to submit their proposal for flare gas utilisation through the Request for Proposals (RfP) phase of the NGFCP.
About
Once operational, projects launched under the NCFCP would reduce
© Pakistan Press International, source