Buhari administration seeking to postpone Petroleum Industry Act implementation, minister says

The administration of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari intends to propose an 18-month extension of the term for implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) adopted last August, according to Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Buhari on January 25, Sylva noted that the federal government has been due to begin adopting the provisions of the PIA, which is designed to serve as a new legal regime for the oil and gas industry, this February. Abuja is now looking to push the start date back to August 2023, he said.

Sylva did not give a reason for the proposed delay but said that more details would be forthcoming. The presidential administration intends to engage with the National Assembly on this front soon, he said.

Buhari signed the PIA last August, a few weeks after both houses of the National Assembly passed the legislation in its third reading. Nigeria’s government has been trying to secure the passage of a new oil and gas law for more than a decade, in the hope of attracting more funding from international oil companies (IOCs) concerned about taxation rates, corruption and the security of their investments.

The call for postponement comes in the wake of the Nigerian government’s decision earlier this week not to eliminate a long-standing subsidy for domestic gasoline prices, as mandated in the PIA.