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Nigerian oil association calls for state of emergency in the industry

Xinhua, June 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), an influential oil sector union, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to consider declaring a state of emergency in the oil and gas industry in the country.

The union also implored the Nigerian leader to unveil his plans for the nation's oil and gas industry within the first 100 days of his administration.

Emmanuel Onourah, chairman of PENGASSAN's Producers Forum, told reporters in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub on Sunday, that the proposed fiscal terms under the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) might threaten 80 billion U.S. dollars worth of investment if not passed into law by the National Assembly.

Onourah said the non-passage of the bill will threaten investment in the country's oil and gas sector between 2015 and 2020.

According to him, the proposed fiscal term was based on 100 dollars barrel model.

The union chief told reporters that the development would also cause 44 billion dollars reduction in accruable revenue to the government in the sector within the period.

Onourah expressed his concerns over the non-passage of the PIB by the 7th National Assembly.

He advised the present administration to represent the bill to the current Assembly for accelerated passage and assent by the president.

He suggested that the bill should be broken into manageable pieces to allow the needed reforms to commence.

Onourah said the more controversial issues like : host community fund, frontier exploration and fiscal terms could be further debated to some points before being passed.

Nigeria is one of the world's biggest oil producers but most of its people remain mired in poverty. The Bill proposes to completely overhaul Nigeria's petroleum industry.

The current draft of the Bill, sent to the National Assembly in 2012, seeks to, amongst others, restructure the regulatory and commercial institutions in the petroleum industry, change the fiscal dynamics and reform the operational mechanisms of the upstream, downstream and natural gas industries. Endi