Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly will resolve the issues under the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) on gas.
Sylva made this known at a National Assembly public hearing organised by the Joint Committee on Gas Resources, Petroleum Resources, Upstream and Downstream, in Abuja, yesterday.
The hearing was on the topic: “Inclusion of Gas Terms in Production Sharing Contracts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).”
He said issues on gas terms were not captured under the PSC, especially with the commercial aspect.
“Issues on gas terms were not captured in the PSC because at the time, the off shore was just a frontier territory, today, it is no longer frontier, it is a proven territory.
“There have been a lot of discussions on how we can change the terms, I believe most of these issues will be addressed in the PIB, especially the issues around gas terms which we all believe were not properly captured in the document.
“Already, the NNPC is engaging in a lot of discussions around the PSC, most of them are commercial discussion and they are bringing good progress.
“But of course, knowing that the PIB is in sight, and the National Assembly invited us for this, we felt we are making progress and I believe the PIB will be able to resolve some of the issues that will come up in the discussion.”
He noted that part of the reason gas was not captured in the PSC was because it was not the focus in the exploration activities at the time.
According to him, the new push for gas is what is needed for economic development in the country.
Sylva said government had in December 2020 rolled out auto gas initiative and would soon inaugurate a task force that would ensure full implementation to make Nigerians use gas in their cars.
“In terms of domestic household usage, we are also pushing for penetration, especially in the rural areas.
“The general idea is to make sure gas is pushed to the fore in Nigeria, ” he said.
Sylva urged the National Assembly to live up to its promise of the passage of the PIB in April to help the growth of the oil and gas sector and the country at large.
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said in November 2019, the House resolved to take necessary action to achieve focused utilisation of abundant natural gas resources.
