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AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

“There are lots of parts to it – community, gov- of more than 14% in crude production between
ernment, industry, everybody’s interest has to be 2012 and 2016. Presumably the losses have only
accommodated,” he said. We have been able to grown larger since then.
take a lot of interests on board. Not everybody
will be on the same page. There’s no way govern- Remaining obstacles
ment and private sector will be on the same page In other words, the failure to update the oil
100%, but what we have tried to do is to narrow law still appears to be the biggest obstacle to
the gap as much as possible.” investment.
Alex Tarka, the president of the Nigerian
Long wait Association of Petroleum Explorationists
As of press time, it was not clear whether the (NAPE), made that argument last week. Speak-
government had been able to bring the PIB to ing during a virtual workshop, he urged Abuja to
the National Assembly yet. Even so, officials in take concrete action for the sake of the country’s
Abuja have not said anything about a delay – and oil and gas industry.
they have reiterated that they hope to pass the “[The] Nigerian government’s failure to
approve the PIB has stalled investment in the
new oil law by the end of this year. try, as only the NNPC is operating. This is not “
Nigerian legislators and government officials exploration of oil and gas industry in the coun- If Nigeria can
have been talking about enacting new legislation
to replace the Petroleum Act of 2004 for a long good for the industry,” he declared. “The indus- enact the PIB
time – more than 10 years, in fact. At the same try, especially the upstream [sector], needs a lot before the end
time, international oil companies (IOCs) have of palliatives, waivers and stimulus to operators
also been eager to see Nigeria establish a new to enable them to sustain employment. We need of this year, it is
legal regime covering all facets of the oil and gas [the] government to put policies in place to get
industry. things done properly.” likely to attract
This is partly because they are keen to ensure The NAPE president indicated that he did
the stability of their contracts, but it is also not share Sylva’s patience with the slow pace of more interest to
because they are anxious about the changes deliberations on the PIB. The government has its next offshore
that the government made last year to the Deep actively alienated investors by not adopting a
Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing new oil law in good time, he argued. bidding round
Contract Act, which governs offshore oilfields. “Exploration is expensive, especially here.
Their anxiety is not unfounded. Nigeria’s So as an investor, if I don’t see any seriousness
government appears to have amended that leg- in the government to show how safe my invest-
islation in a bid to bolster its claim to more than ment will be, I will keep [my money] elsewhere,”
$62bn in purportedly lost revenues. he said. “Until [the] PIB is passed, investors will
But this sum pales next to the amount that continue to look elsewhere to invest. So there is
Nigeria may have lost as a result of dragging its no better time than now to [collaborate] on this
feet on the PIB. issue and get the bill passed.”
Four years ago, the Nigeria Extractive Indus- Tarka does have a point. If Nigeria is able to
tries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) argued put the PIB into effect before the end of this year,
in a policy brief that the lack of an oil law had it is likely to attract more interest to its next off-
already cost the country around $200bn worth shore licensing round, which is due to take place
of oil revenue – and had contributed to a decline next year. ™

Week 30 29•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P5