Business Day: New fiscal regime for gas should not wait for PIB, say operators

In 1983, Nigeria flared as much gas as was consumed in the developed nation of Australia. Twenty years later not much has changed, except a proposed oil industry bill that is widely touted as a cure – all for everything ailing the troubled sector.

The problem is that the 200 – plus page Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which plans to partly privatise and list the state oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), tax oil and gas profits at up to 74 percent, and give the oil minister supervisory powers over all institutions in the industry, has been stuck in the Nigerian parliament for over six years.

“There is no gas because there are no terms on which gas will be developed,” said an oil industry source speaking to BusinessDay. “Right now, if the petroleum minister were to write a commercial deal on two of our mega gas fields, then the story changes significantly.”
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