Introduced in 2007 to revamp the oil and gas sector, ensure an optimal level of transparency and accountability by strengthening governing institutions and attract the much-needed capital through changes to the governance, administrative, fiscal and regulatory frameworks, President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) on 16 August 2021 and renamed it the Petroleum Industry Act (“PIA” or the “Act”).
The passage of the PIA has been hailed by industry players as a welcome development, albeit long overdue. The PIA is a root and branch review of the entire oil and gas sector and is expected to place Nigeria on the right path to competing better in the global oil and gas market. Nigeria is said to have lost circa $50 billion over the past ten years largely due to the uncertainties surrounding the legal, administrative and fiscal policies of the oil and gas sector. The Nigerian Capital Importation Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that capital importation targeted at the oil and gas sector has averaged a meagre 1% of the total capital imported into the country over the past three years (2018-2020), a significant reduction compared to 2016 (14%), evidencing preferences for other sectors as investment destinations over the oil and gas sector.
