PIB passage to Presidency will receive timely consideration, says Osinbajo

The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday, said whenever the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is sent to the presidency for assent, it would receive timely and necessary considerations.

He said the recent passage of the bill by the National Assembly (NASS) was a great feat as the PIB will address issues bothering infrastructural deficits, security issues, operations costs among other sectoral challenges.

The Vice President spoke while declaring open the 2021 Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja.

Osinbajo who was represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva maintained that the bill, when fully operational, the sector’s governance, administration and fiscal provisions would be the most attractive in Africa.

“Just last week the national assembly passed the long-awaited Petroleum industry bill. This unprecedented feat has been adjudged as a watershed moment for our nation.

“The bill when transmitted to the presidency will receive necessary and timely consideration. Infrastructural development, security issues, high cost of operations and other various issues are well covered in this all-encompassing bill,” he said.

On the importance of driving cleaner energy through gas utilization, he said the future survival and successes of many key players in the industry will depend on their ability to deliver low-cost solutions.

“Consequently, the government is encouraging our industry players to critically focus on our vast natural gas resources as a transition period that will function as a bridge between the dominant fossil fuel of today and cleaner energy of tomorrow.

“Natural gas has the ability to meet the increasing global requirements for cleaner primary energy use while at the same time enabling much needed domestic industrialisation for rapid economic growth in very few endowed countries such as Nigeria,” he stated.

Earlier, the Group Managing Director(GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) stressed that the call for energy transition is not to phase out fossil fuel, but to create the right balance.

His words, “Energy transition is not about moving from fossil fuel to renewable, it is creating the right balance and there is this common mistake that in 2050, fossil fuel will go away and we will be dealing with renewables. That is not true, it is very far from the truth.”

He noted that beyond 2050, the country would still find oil relevant, adding also that financial institutions have stopped lending to energy borrowings.

“Yes it may be for the moment, they may come back to the realities probably in another five years but the reality today is you can’t find easy financing for fossil fuel-related businesses. But we also know that the demand is there,” he stated.

However, he noted that within the next four years, the country would see massive gas monetization, development and infrastructure.

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