PIB Won’t Be Rushed Into Law -Senate

The Senate will not rush the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law to avoid short changing Nigerians, the chairman of its committee on Gas Resources, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, has said.
She  said efforts were being made to ensure the speedy passage of the Bill, adding that it was the desire of the committee to ensure that the legistlation WAs all –encompassing, spelling the dos and don’ts in the oil and gas industry.
Senator  Nwaogu said  the bill  was such an important document that should be given priority  attention because it would remove fears about the oil industry, especially the gas sector.  She  added that if passed into law,  it would address bottlenecks  in oil and gas operation in the country.
The Bill has passed the first and second readings and is at the domain of public hearing. She noted that it would be detrimental  to the economy to rush the process of passing the Bill into law, with out allowing experts’ input. This is to ensure that, at the end of the day, the Bill would be seen as a democratically assembled document comprising inputs from –experts in oil and gas and other sectors, senator Nwaogu said.
“That is why we are going to hold a public hearing, and for my committee on Gas. We want to ensure that this document has a transparently identifiable dos and don’ts  for gas  exploration, production and processing and gas distribution. We don’t want a situation where we  would say  we have a petroleum industry law that does not  take into account the peculiarities in gas exploration, processing and distribution”, she stated.
“We want to ensure that  the volume of gas we have translates into  increase in revenue  profile for the  country, and ensure  that the  new document gives opportunity for investment in the gas sector, as well as ensure that  there would be easy entry  into gas business in the  country and easy exit of gas business at the same time.
“We expect  the petroleum industry law as it affects gas, would  help create  more wealth  for Nigeria, more  employment  for Nigerians, and at the  end of the day place Nigeria in the committee of nations  as  regards gas production and gas exploration,” adding that domestic gas development could be used to reduce  the continuous abuse of our environment through deforestation and through gas flaring by putting a stop to the practice.
She said if there is a law that prohibits gas flaring  and ensures that we create  a conducive  environment for  investors  to come into  the gas infrastructure business,  firms  would come in from outside  the country that would  want to establish  a  network of gas pipelines.