The House of Representatives has commenced moves to amend the Petroleum Industry Act to make provision for non-producing oil wells to lose their operational licences.
On September 26, 2024, the House passed for first reading “A bill for an Act to amend the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 to provide for licensing requirements for the operation of oil wells, petroleum prospecting licenses and, for revocation of licenses from non-performing oil fields and for related matters.”
It is anticipated that in the coming weeks, the Green Chambers floor will reconvene to discuss the measure presented by Ikenga Ugochinyere, the member representing Ideato North/Ideato South Federal Constituency, Imo State.
According to a copy of the draft that The PUNCH reported, the proposed law would add additional sub-sections 2 and 3 to Section 81 in order to alter it.
On licensing requirements for petroleum mining lease, sub-section 2 specifies that a petroleum mining lease shall be issued under sub-section 1 of this section where the holder of a petroleum prospecting licence exhibits a minimum crude oil refining capability of 50,000 barrels per day.
Subsection 2(a) has been amended to permit licensees with limited refining capacity to collaborate in order to operate.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is authorized by the bill’s subsection 2(b) to establish the operational framework for these corporate consortiums.
The bill in sub-section 3 provides that “Where a licensee fails to produce the required capacity of crude oil for a continuous period of two years, the commission shall revoke the licence of that licensee. This provision shall also apply to the consortium under sub-section 2.”
The bill further clarified what constitutes a non-producing oil field.
Since its enactment in 2021, there have been calls from stakeholders including the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, Independent Petroleum Producers, and Oil Producers Trade Section, among others for the amendment of the PIA.
TimesNow.com.ng reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) began removing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as gasoline, from the Dangote Refinery.
On Saturday, the national oil company announced that at least 300 trucks are stationed at the Lekki, Lagos refinery.
Nigerians are excited by the news and hope that future developments will result in lower gas costs at filling stations.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
