Effective Regulations, Key To Harnessing Gains Of PIA-Sylva

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has underscored the need for effective regulations in harnessing the gains of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for global relevance.
Sylva said for Nigeria to continue to be relevant at the global stage, it must design regulations that could balance the energy base load for Nigeria.
Sylva said this while declaring open a stakeholders’ consultation forum on draft regulations under the PIA on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the draft regulations were prepared by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in conjunction with the Presidential Steering Committee on the PIA.
The premier consultative forum was aimed at ensuring inputs and considerations of oil and gas stakeholders on the draft regulations for smooth implementation of the PIA.
The regulations include: host communities’ development, petroleum royalty; upstream fees; and rent; Domestic gas delivery obligations: Nigeria conversation; and Licencing regulations.
Sylva said effective regulations would ensure that Nigeria was not left behind in the energy transition train while still harnessing our rich natural hydrocarbon reserves.
The Minister expressed hope that the input from various stakeholders would further clarify the draft regulations and eventual firming up of the final regulations for use.
According to the minister, government has a mandate of ensuring sound management of the oil and gas sector considering the key role the sector plays in revenue generation for the country.
He said it was on this background that the Presidential Steering Committee on PIA, which he chaired, played the pivotal role in collaborating with NUPRC in drafting the first set of regulations for review.