A passionate appeal has been made to the National Assembly, Abuja to ensure speedy passage of the revamped Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), with the view to usher in huge economic benefits for the country.
The call was made by a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology Minna, Dr Abdulkadir Mukhtar, in a paper he delivered at a PIB workshop organized for the House of Representatives in Dubai, United Arab Emirate( UAE) a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune at the weekend in Minna, Niger State capital.
The workshop which was sponsored by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) for House of Representatives Committee members on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) was said to have taken place recently at the Dubai Mall, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Murthar, who is the Head of Department, Chemical Engineering, FUT,Minna took the House of Representatives members through the rudiments of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as well as its benefits to the development of the sector and the country at large.
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Presenting one of the papers titled: “Fundamentals of the Oil and Gas Value Chain”, the don stated that government policies, society, technology and geopolitics were key factors that would determine the forces of demand and supply of energy in the country, pointing out that the oil and gas industry offers a powerful platform for job opportunities in any country.
He defined the upstream sector as a phase in the value chain where oil and gas were discovered, developed and produced so that it can be sold in the wholesale market.
According to the scholar, “the upstream sector is the most complex, technologically advanced sector. The upstream sector profit margins are impacted substantially by outside forces such as political instability, international conflicts and agreements on supply control by production countries.”
Dr. Mukhtar explained that the midstream sector focuses solely on transportation which was often characterized by shipping, trucking, pipelines and storing of the raw materials.
He said, “the midstream sector segment is also characterized by high regulation, particularly on pipeline transmission and low capital risk, while the downstream businesses are responsible for removing impurities and converting the feedback to products for the general public such as gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel, liquefied petroleum gases, heating oil, asphalt etc. suitable for final consumption.”
Other papers delivered by the don at the three-day strategic workshop was centred on the imperatives of the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB): Legislative focus and support needed and factors required for oil and gas accumulation.
On the way forward for the passage of the PIB, the erudite scholar called for strong consensus around the PIB agenda and urged the National Assembly to ensure speedy passage of the PIB in a manner devoid of political undertones.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mukhtar, is a highly respected PTDF consultant with over 10 years of excellent performance in PTDF-sponsored research in the oil and gas industry, manpower development for staff of PTDF among others.
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