Petroleum Industry Bill Will Commercialize NNPC And Not Scrap It - FG

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva has revealed that the new draft Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) sent to the National Assembly is seeking to commercialize the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and not scrap it.

Sylva who made this known while speaking to newsmen on Monday after an interactive session with the National Assembly, debunked the popular notion insinuating that the bill was created to scrap of NNPC.

READ ALSO: NNPC In Need Of Investors To Repair Pipelines And Depots

According to him, the new bill only sought to commercialize the corporation.

Also announcing that the PIB will transform the petroleum industry, Sylva revealed that the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF)and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) will not exist in the same form that they exist currently.

“We’ve heard so much noise about NNPC being scrapped, but that is not being envisaged by the bill at all.

“NNPC will not be scrapped but commercialized in line with deregulation moves being made across all the streams in the sector comprising upstream, downstream and midstream.

“We have said that NNPC will be commercialized.

“But if you are talking about transforming the industry, the only new thing that we are introducing is the development of the midstream, that is the pipeline sector.

“So we have provided robustly for the growth of the midstream sector.

“Through commercialization, the required competitiveness in the sector will be achieved,” he said.

He further revealed that the host communities would also have the best deal from the bill.

“But I do not want to go into the details of the bill until it is read on the floor of the Senate,” he said.