Oil Producing Trade Section (OPTS), comprising 30 indigenous and international members operating about 90% of the total oil and gas production in Nigeria yesterday saihd the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB would stifle their businesses and the growth of the Petroleum sector.
The Chairman of OPTS, Mike Sangster who spoke on behalf of the group at the beginning of the two day public hearing on the PIB organized by the ad-hoc Commitee of the House of Representatives said that some aspects of the bill were inimical to future investments.
Titled “A Bill for an act to provide legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host community and for related matters”, the proposed piece of legislation is chiefly seeking to scrap the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and replace them with a new agency to be called Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Author
Bayelsa State government has alerted the residents of the presence of some filling stations indulged in the sale of adulterated petroleum products in the state.