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AfrElec POLICY AfrElec

Nigeria shifts target date for passage of PIB

back by three months

NIGERIA NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari own part by drafting the bill. It is currently with
has been pushing the National Assembly to pass the National Assembly. The [legislation] has
the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) already passed the second reading in the Senate.
before year-end, but his administration has now They have sent the draft to the relevant commit-
altered its deadline. tees for consideration. The House of Represent-
According to Timipre Sylva, the country’s atives [will] take [it] from there and look at it
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, the next week. We are expecting that both chambers
government is now prepared to move its target [will] go through the committee stages by the
date back to the end of March. He called this a first quarter of next year and pass it into law.”
realistic deadline, saying that Abuja had a good He also noted that the National Assembly
chance of securing the passage of the law before would have to hold public hearings on the PIB
the end of the first quarter of 2021. before it could be signed and passed into law. It
“I am not saying categorically and conclu- is not yet clear exactly when those hearings will
sively that the PIB will be passed then. But what take place, but Sylva said he did not expect them
I am saying is that from the pace of work we to lead to further delays.
can see the National Assembly working so far, He also emphasised the importance of the
everything being equal, we are projecting that PIB for Nigeria’s economic prospects. “There is
the PIB will be passed [at the] latest by the first no better way of diversifying the country’s econ-
quarter of 2021,” Sylva told the Premium Times omy than through a well-developed oil and gas
newspaper. industry, particularly with the huge gas resources
The upper and lower chambers of the in Nigeria,” he said. “So this will be the most cred-
National Assembly are slated to enter into the ible attempt towards a holistic diversification
next phase of the legislative process very soon, of the Nigerian economy. That is why it is very
he added. “The PIB is out of the executive’s hand important for all stakeholders to see that the PIB
right now,” he remarked. “We completed our is passed as soon as possible.”™

Sudan to offer 27 blocks to investors

POLAND SUDAN’S Ministry of Energy and Mining has make more investments in the communities
announced plans to offer more than two dozen that hosted their oilfields. Aliu argued that these
new blocks to investors in the near future. firms should agree to “provide social services Pull quote to go
Speaking to the Sky News Arabia TV chan- such as water, education and health projects, [to]
nel, acting Energy and Mining Minister Kheiri construct roads to connect towns and villages in here Pull quote
Abdelrahman said on November 13 that Khar- and [to] address electricity problems,” Radio
toum hoped to attract bids for 24 onshore blocks, Dabanga reported last week. to go in here Pull
as well as three offshore licence areas. He did not In related news, Sudan recently took delivery
identify any of the blocks in question, or say of a small gasoline cargo, the first to be imported quote to go in
when Sudanese authorities would begin accept- into the country by a privately owned company. here Pull quote
ing offers for them. Abdelrahman told reporters earlier this
Abdelrahman went on to say that the Min- month that the first cargo, consisting of 36,000 to go in here Pull
istry of Energy and Mining hoped to attract the tonnes of gasoline, had been unloaded in Port
attention of international investors with access Sudan. Additionally, he noted that another cargo quote to go in
to up-to-date technologies. Khartoum hopes to of the same size was waiting to dock in the port.
find investors that can use technology to maxim- Sudan has experienced widespread fuel here.
ise yields from all 27 of the blocks, he explained. shortages this year and has had to import petro-
He was speaking one day after he paid a visit leum products to meet demand. The govern-
to East Darfur State to discuss investment in ment is trying to alleviate those shortages by
the oil sector. During that visit, Mohamed Aliu, arranging for the distribution of supplies in key
the governor of the state, told him that local sectors of the economy, including but not limited
authorities wanted to see upstream operators to agriculture and power generation.™

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 19•November•2020