By YANGE IKYAA
The organisers of the 2022 Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2022), scheduled to take place in Abuja from February 27th to March 3rd, 2022 have said that the session on the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) during the upcoming conference will witness an intense and heated debate by industry professionals, policy makers and stakeholders.
Formerly known as the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), it is the official oil and gas meeting of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Over the years, N.I.E.S has witnessed the highest level of attendance by top decision makers, industry leaders and all stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.
Session panelists at N.I.E.S 2022 will be made up of legislators, energy legal experts and host community stakeholders. Confirmed panelists include Prof Steve Azaiki, Member, House Committee of Appropriation; Hon. Nicholas Mutuh, Chairman, House Committee on Gas Resources; Hon. Tunji-Ojo Olubunmi, Chairman, House Committee on Niger Delta; Senator Sabo Mohammed Nakudu, Chairman, Senate Committee on Downstream; Senator Albert Bassey Akpan, Chairman, Senate Committee on Upstream Petroleum; and Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, SAN, President, Nigeria Association of Energy Economists.
The event is hosted with support from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all its parastatals, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPR), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and Petroleum Training Institute (PTI).
PIA was enacted to provide for the legal, governance, the regulatory, and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, the establishment, and development of host communities and other related matters in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry.
“There is no doubt that the biggest issue in Nigeria’s energy sector over the last 20 years has been the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Several unsuccessful attempts were made to push it past the finish line until last year that it became an Act. It is a major feat by the Buhari presidency. It is a landmark. It is historic development and it is a phenomenon”, said James Shindi, Managing Director, Brevity Anderson, the event producers of N.I.E.S 2022.
“What we are saddled with right now is its implementation and be rest assured that the N.I.E.S platform will provide that stage for thorough scrutiny of the PIA and the journey so far with its implementation. And with the kind of interest generated by the Act and its critical importance to the industry, expect nothing short of high-octane session at the N.I.E.S 2022”, Shindi added.
The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 was assented to and signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 16th, 2021 to repeal the extant Petroleum Act 2004.
According to an Ernst & Young publication, the PIA seeks to ensure “an increased level of transparency and accountability in the sector by strengthening the governing institutions to attract investment capital through changes to the governance, administrative, regulatory and fiscal frameworks of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”