Overview
The Passage of the Long anticipated Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a proposed law aimed at overhauling the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry, will attract mega investment into the industry, Ernest Nwapa, executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has said at the presentation of the book titled ‘Petroleum Law and Sustainable Development’ on Thursday in Lagos.
Dayo Ayoade, senior lecturer, energy law at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos in his review of the book stated that after 106 years after the commencement of petroleum exploration in Nigeria and over 50 years of commercial exploration, the Nigerian upstream oil and gas legal and regulatory infrastructure remains in a state of flux with the decade long reform enshrined in the PIB.
The book authored by Dr Fabian Ajogwu SAN, Partner at Kenna Partners and Dr Oscar Nliam, Senior Associate in the same firm focuses on the imperative of sustainable oil and gas exploration and production in Nigeria. Odien Ajumogobia former minister of petroleum resources wrote the foreword of the book. Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, executive vice chairman and general counsel Exxon Mobil Nigeria Unlimited who chaired the event noted that 90 % of the nation’s revenue is derived from the oil industry. ‘There is really an urgent call for action in terms of how to take the industry forward and sustain it. It is absolutely essential that we realize that we do not have as much time as we thought we had.’
Ajogwu, when asked why they wrote the book told business day that they wanted to highlight the importance of having a regulatory and legal framework that supports the development of the people in a sustainable way. We are putting this forward so that even the PIB will have a balance between oil exploration and the prosperity of the indigenous people.
