The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the National Assembly has assured that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will be passed by June.
Baru, who was represented by the NNPC Chief Operating Officer Upstream, Dr Rabiu Bello, said the Bills must be looked into in order to attract the needed N25 billion year-on-year investments to the industry.
“In the area of policy, the popular omnibus single petroleum industry bill has been broken into three parts for quick review and passage by the National Assembly.
“As you aware, the first part of the bill, the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill was passed by the House recently.
“When the other sections of the bill are finally passed, it will unlock more than10 billion dollars of investment held up due to uncertainty.
“The promise we got last week from the National Assembly was that before the end of the second quarter of this year which we see as June 30, they promise the three other bills will also be concluded and passed.
“So, hopefully, 2018 will see the end of all the discussions around the PIB which started in year 2000,’’ Baru said.
Baru said the Federal Government had completed more than 500 km gas pipelines in eight years.
“We have embarked on one of the most aggressive gas reforms and implementation.
“Accelerated implementation of gas pipeline infrastructure development, with specific focus on critical pipeline infrastructure to power plants being put in place.
“Between 2010 and today, almost 500 km of pipelines have been completed, commissioned and now delivering gas,’’ he said.
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