Delay of PIB ‘threatening’ $80bn investment

The non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) could threaten $80 billion worth of investment in the oil and gas industry.

Emmanuel Onourah, chairman, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Producers Forum, said this on Sunday at a news briefing in Lagos.

Onourah said the non-passage will threaten investments in the nation’s oil and gas sector “between 2015 and 2020”.

He said that the proposed fiscal term was based on $100 per barrel model.

According to him, the development would also cause $44 billion reduction in accruable revenue to the federal government in the sector within the period.

He explained that this would affect the sector as no deepwater Production Sharing Contract production would be viable.

Onourah also said the production of gas under the Joint Venture with the government would reduce by 90 per cent.

Also, the production of oil under the Joint Venture with government would reduce by 30 per cent while there would be an overall decline by 25 per cent, he said.

Onourah expressed his concerns over the non-passage of the PIB by the 7th National Assembly.

He advised the present administration to re-present the bill for accelerated passage.

He suggested that the bill should be broken into manageable pieces to allow the needed reforms to commence.

Onourah said the more controversial issues sucha as host community fund, frontier exploration and fiscal terms could be further debated to some points before being passed.

“We also advocated that the gas policy for Production Sharing Contracts and appropriate domestic gas should be addressed because it affects gas supply to Independent Power Projects (IPP) which impacts negatively on electricity,’’ he said.

He implored President Muhammadu Buhari to unveil his plans for the nation’s oil and gas industry within the first 100 days of his administration.

He also urged the president to consider declaring a state of emergency in the oil and gas industry in the country.