PIB: Senate meets NNPC, oil majors, others

The Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources Upstream led by Senator Emmanuel Paulker (PDP, Bayelsa), has begun consultation with officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and some International Oil Companies (IOCs) on the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Daily Trust heard in Abuja yesterday.Sources in the Senate said the meeting was convened in an effort to garner support of the stake holders in the oil sector ahead of consideration of the PIB which has lingered in the National Assembly since 2008.The meeting is convened through its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) headed by Senator Emmanuel Paulker.The committee was reported to have already met with oil majors in the upstream sector including Shell, Agip and Tota shortly before Senate went on recess on Wednesday, November 2nd.When contacted, Senator Paulker said, 'let me state two major issues which our committee shall pay serious attention to. The first is the issue of industry cost. My committee is aware that over time, the cost of doing business in our petroleum industry has grown to become one of the highest around the whole world.''The committee is aware that the industry is traditionally considered to be opaque, secretive and guarded. This is so especially with regard to the operations of the policy and regulatory agencies as well as even major oil companies both foreign and indigenous,' he added.The bill was sent to the MPs by late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua but has face several set backs in both senate and House of Representatives mostly due to opposition by the oil majors who sees it as one that will send them out of business.
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