The signing of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 16th of August 2021 is a welcome development for the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) and stakeholders in the Nigerian gas sector value chain. Moreso, at a time where Nigeria needs to urgently position and craft a sustainable and viable plan for leveraging and utilizing gas as a transition fuel for its economic and industrial growth in the midst of a world-wide race to net zero carbon emissions.
Overall, the PIA is expected to usher in improved investments in the gas sector. This potential for improved and increased investments must be situated within the larger business environment in Nigeria in terms of a credible and viable commercial framework, certainty of the regulatory framework, security, ease of doing business, provision of infrastructure and other related factors.
From the fiscal regime and pricing viewpoint, the PIA introduces improved fiscal terms for the domestic upstream gas supplier though pricing is still deemed to be regulated without specific triggers for transition to a free market.
In terms of the governance and regulatory framework, the PIA has positively established a delineated framework for the regulation of activities in the upstream, midstream and downstream gas operations as well as the licensing and fiscal framework which in the past had been subsumed under oil exploration and production.
Read more here: https://www.energyfocusreport.com/nga-releases-communique-on-petroleum-industry-act-stating-own-position/
