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Diezani Alison-Maduekwe, the Minister of Petroleum has expressed optimism that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would be ready for the president’s signature by next month.Speaking at the eighth Aret Adams annual lecture series held in Lagos yesterday, the minister said, “We are very expectant. The Senate and the House of Representatives are passionate and eager to move this bill forward and they both want it out in the shortest possible time.”

Mrs. Alison-Maduekwe, who was the guest speaker at the lecture titled ‘Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry, its growth post PIB’, said she has been holding discussions with the chairmen of the committees and has been speaking with all concerned.

“We have to show the commitment necessary to the passage of the PIB. We are calling on all Nigerians to turn this aspiration to reality. The PIB has undergone various reviews and it is currently undergoing the final review by the legislators. It has undergone the first and second reading by the Senate and the House of Representatives. Right now, it is undergoing the chapter by chapter reviews by both houses before it is finally passed into law” she said.

She expressed optimism that a clear copy of the bill should be ready for the president’s assent next month. According to her, the passage of the PIB holds a lot of prospects for the country at large. “When this bill is passed, the gas sector will become the crux of our economy going forward. We have much more gas reserves than we have in crude.”

Prospects and benefits

Mrs. Alison-Maduekwe said the topic chosen for the lecture this year is one that is pertinent to the heart of many Nigerians. “The PIB is a long and in-depth bill, a historic, critical and extensive Bill encompassing the 16 hitherto existing laws with the oil and gas industry. One of the major benefits of this bill is that transparency in the oil and gas industry would be achieved.” “The oil and gas industry has been characterised by too much opaqueness, extreme level of confidentiality. This Bill would remove opaqueness in a scale that has never been seen. Data would be accessible for all interested individuals” she said.

Other benefits that would be derived from the passage of the bill according to the minister includes the availability of over 300, 000 jobs in the industry in the next 4-5 years, the implementation of corporate social responsibility would no longer be an option but compulsorily, gas flaring must be put to an end, and would hasten the commercialisation of the NNPC among other issues.

The government has repeatedly said the passage of the Bill is imminent, yet, revisions and debate have hindered the process since then.

Egbert Imomoh, the chairman, Board of Trustees, Aret Adams Foundation, said “Every year when the board of trustees meet to decide on a topic, we look at the industry, consider the issues which are current, topical and would attract a wide audience. Although the industry has set end of 2010, targets of a petroleum capacity of four million barrels a day, and reserves of 40 billion barrels, it was obvious that it could not be met for all kinds of reasons” he said.

“Secondly, the PIB has made so much progress in the National Assembly and attracted a lot of public and private debate, and based on assurances, we had expected it to be passed before the end of 2010. Apparently, not much investment was being made whilst the PIB was not yet passed. It was therefore obvious that the passage of the PIB was essential for the growth of the industry” he said.

Mr. Imomoh, who was Managing Director and Executive Chairman of Afren Energy Resources Limited and one time Deputy Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria), said growth in the petroleum industry is absolutely essential to the Nigerian economy, given its position as the engine that drives economic expansion. Also, given the level of unemployment, a growth induced by the industry will contribute its own quota to job creation” he said.

The event was well attended by past and present managing directors and CEO’s of oil and gas companies and the NNPC, lawyers and dignitaries from all walks of life. The Aret Adams Foundation is founded on the ideals of the late Godwin Aret Adams, a one-time managing director of NNPC, among other positions in the oil and gas industry. Its major objectives include education and empowerment of Nigerians in the urban and rural centres. The foundation plans to organise seminars on topical issues of national importance aimed at empowering Nigerians.