AN EXAMINATION OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ACT 2021 AND THE QUEST FOR A NEW NIGERIA

Abstract

The present paper attempts to examine the philosophy behind the various measures which have been put in place to transform the petroleum sector in Nigeria by successive administrations to attain global best practices in the oil and gas sector. The high-point of the drive was achieved most recently when President Muhammadu Buhari finally assented to the Petroleum Industry Bill (‘PIB’) into the Petroleum Industry Act (‘PIA’) on 16th August, 2021. Before now, the petroleum sector reform agenda had been in the offing for at least some 30 years. The Oil and Gas Sector Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC) inaugurated in 2000, led to the first National Oil and Gas Policy which identified the need to separate the joint commercial and regulatory roles fulfilled by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Thus with the unveiling of the new Act, experts have asserted that a new window has been opened to ignite massive investments in the petroleum sector with several other multiplier effects, including price stabilization. However, some stakeholders were of the view that the PIA has failed to address the nagging issue on adequate commitment to climate change and energy transition in line with the Paris Agreement. Also condemned was the 30% slated for the Frontier Oil Exploration Fund whereas the host communities rose with one voice to oppose the 3% settler’s annual operating expenditure dedicated to them in the new Act, and thus requested for upward review. In that light, the present paper is an academic contribution to firstly recapture the pre-PIA era together with the expectations of the new law on one hand, and to highlight, on the other hand, the criticisms trailing its inauguration with a view to forging a way forward.