Oil and gas industry operators have stated that the Petroleum Industrial Bill, PIB, might force existing players out of the market.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, collectively stated their PIB provisions.
The Groups said part of the PIB provisions, though encouraging local development, might leave a monopolistic market for the national oil company and big refiners.
Also, key players like the Trade Union Congress, TUC have frowned at the Senate version of the PIB that allowed only active refinery licence holders to import petroleum products into the country.
According to them, the development is against business ethics and will deprive the nation of all the potential in the recently passed bill.
Speaking, a former President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Nigerian Council, Joseph Nwakwue, expressed concern that the provisions would create a duopoly in a price deregulated environment, thereby destroying the Nigerian downstream industry.
He noted that NNPC and Dangote have domestic refining capacity for PMS, which would make the duo the only importers in Nigeria.
Joseph said that Nigeria should seek to protect consumers by liberalising and expanding petroleum product supply sources rather than watching refiners.
According to him, that is the only way prices will be ‘market-determined and consumers made to pay fair value for the products they buy.
PIB
Also, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, described the planned move to limit fuel imports to only owners of refineries as monopolistic and a deliberate attempt to frustrate the challenges the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, is intended to solve.
The TUC President, Mr Quadri Olaleye and the Secretary-General, Mr Musa-Lawal Ozigi, said the country could not afford to continue toying with the oil and gas sector as it remains the only primary source of foreign exchange.
Reacting, the leadership of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, which appreciated the National Assembly for the passage of the PIB to unlock the fortune of the oil and gas industry, called for the removal of the clause restricting importation license to few operators.
According to the group, the inclusion of PENGASSAN and NUPENG on the industry regulator(s) board is crucial for attaining one of the critical objectives of this bill, which is to ensure accountability and transparency in the industry.
