As the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) goes through gradual implementation, stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have established that the fiscal environment and decades of poor investment in the sector might undermine the prospects of the industry under the new fiscal regime.
Speaking at this year’s pre-conference workshop organised by the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) and themed, “The next decade of oil and gas business in Nigeria: Impact of the energy transition”, the Senior Partner, Deloitte Nigeria, Olumide Esan, stated that except the Federal Government is intentional with infrastructure funding in oil and gas, not much should be expected from the PIA.
Esan added that decades of underfunding remain a challenge in the development of the nation’s oil and gas sector.
He noted that there are still issues to be addressed for Nigeria to enjoy the full benefits of PIA, stressing that no matter how great the PIA is, crude oil theft and insecurity would still be a bottleneck hindering the inflow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into Nigeria’s oil and gas space.
Earlier, the president, NAPE, Patricia Ochogbu, said the adverse global economic conditions occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the demand and price of crude oil for most of 2020, saying that it has come at a huge cost to the Nigerian economy which is dependent on the oil & gas sector for most of the government’s revenue, and over 90 percent of total export earnings.
Support InfoStride News' Credible Journalism: Only credible journalism can guarantee a fair, accountable and transparent society, including democracy and government. It involves a lot of efforts and money. We need your support. Click here to Donate