The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, said Thursday that the leadership of National Assembly has assured him that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would be passed in April this year.
The minister at a Special Ministerial Briefings coordinated by the Presidential Communication Team at the State House in Abuja.
He said the Petroleum Industry Bill would not suffer any setback considering the commitment of lawmakers to its passage into law.
He said the 20-year-old PIB, if passed into law, would steer the country’s economy away from oil to gas, and attract a lot of investments in the gas sector.
The minister also spoke on having functional refineries in the country, saying the planned rehabilitation of Port Harcourt $1.5 billion is a worthwhile venture.
The minister said the federal government remained committed to its promise to deliver a functional refinery to Nigerians in record time.
“So, if we realize that they have constraints we can change. The whole idea is that Niger has 20,000 bpd which is even bigger than their consumption.
“There is already illegal trading going on between Nigeria and Niger. So, what we want to do is to see how we can legalize it. We want to begin to create business without neighbors. This is what ECOWAS and AU are trying to encourage. That is inter-regional trade and begin to trade among ourselves,” he said.
The minister said the processing of award marginal oilfield licenses have been completed with 161 winning bids notified, stressing that 50 percent of them have paid their signature bonuses.
