Page 11 - AfrOil Week 06 2020

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
 “We believe that this time around, the ninth National Assembly will break the jinx and should be able to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Nigerian legislators and government officials have been talking about enacting new legisla- tion to replace the Petroleum Act of 2004 for more than 10 years.
Meanwhile, international oil companies (IOCs) have also been eager to see Nigeria to establish a new legal regime covering all facets of the oil industry.
This is partly because they are keen to ensure the stability of their contracts, but it also stems from investors’ anxiety over the changes that the
government made last year to older legislation governing offshore oilfields.
The IOCs are right to be nervous. Nigeria’s government appears to have approved the amendments to the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act in a bid to bolster its claim to more than $62bn in pur- portedly lost revenues.
Buhari said last year that the amendments and the new PIB would help ensure that the gov- ernment received its “fair share of oil revenues, whilst [also] encouraging private investment.” He did not define a “fair share” or reveal what terms Nigeria’s government was willing to offer investors. ™
Sudan rationing motor fuel in response to shortages
SUDAN
SUDAN’S transitional government responded to burgeoning shortages of refined fuels by introducing a rationing regime on February 10. According to press reports, authorities in Khar- toum are now limiting motorists to buying four gallons (18.2 litres) of diesel or gasoline per vehi- cle every two days.
Energy Minister Adel Ibrahim told reporters on February 10 that he expected conditions to improve soon. “Supplies are continuing. There is noneedtopanic,”Reutersquotedhimassaying.
Ibrahim did not say, though, when the short- ages might be resolved. Sudanese authorities have attributed the problem to a break in a pipe- line that supplies oil to one of the country’s three refineries. They have claimed that repair work is under way but have not said exactly when the pipe might resume operations.
The fuel shortages have wreaked havoc on
Sudan’s economy and exacerbated popular discontent with the transitional government. Reuters reported on February 11 that drivers hoping to buy fuel from retail filling stations had formed queues that stretched for several miles. It also said that taxi drivers in Khartoum had increased their rates to make up for their diffi- culties in securing fuel.
The transitional regime’s options are limited. For financial and logistical reasons, it cannot import enough gasoline and diesel to make up for the drop in domestic supplies. More specif- ically, its foreign currency reserves are low, and the country’s road and port facilities are not equipped to handle large volumes of imported fuel.
Meanwhile, the transitional government must also contend with the previous regime’s policy of subsidising fuel prices.
Sudanese motorists queue up for fuel (Photo: Dabanga)
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