PETAN urges petroleum minister of state to conclude ongoing reforms

THE chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, has urged the new Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, to work towards the timely conclusion of the ongoing industry reforms.

He said in a statement that the delay in passing and assenting to the PIG bill was holding down lots of Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) and critical investment.

PDP will do everything to win Lagos ― Secondus

“The passage of and the assent by Mr President to the PIG bills is important to send a signal to the market that this government is serious about the oil reform agenda. The uncertainty created by the lack of passage of the reforms has significantly affected investments in the Nigerian oil and gas sector,” he said.

He asked Sylva to “work with the legislators to expedite the passage of the relevant bills associated with Section 16 of the Petroleum Act and incorporate feedbacks from the public hearing. We need to be sending our investor friendly messaging to remove this negative cloud on investments in Nigeria.

“Everything that is anti-investment, anti-entrepreneurs must be removed. Sanctity of contracts and the rule of law are to be respected. Rule of Law must be supreme. Sanctity of contracts must be respected.”

In addition, the PETAN boss urged the minister to support competitive Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) fiscal terms which enable monetisation of deep offshore gas.

He, however, urged him to also support existing investor commitments, ensure fiscal terms remain competitive, enable conducive business environment and ensure safety of lives and security of assets.