The Nigerian National Assembly has passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), which had already been approved by the Upper Senate in May 2017 and now only needs to be signed by the President to come into effect.
If the bill is signed into law, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources would be renamed as the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated. A new oil and gas regulator, the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPRC), would be created and would take over the functions previously assumed by the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Petroleum Inspectorate (PI) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). It will also oversee the granting of new oil and gas exploration and production licenses and execute auction rounds.
In addition, the PIGB would reform the state-held oil and gas company NNPC and would split it into two distinct branches: National Petroleum Company (NPC) and Nigeria Petroleum Assets Management (NPAM). NPC would be in charge of the country's majority stakes in the upstream oil and gas joint ventures (JVs) with foreign companies while NPAM would be responsible for the State interest in the offshore production sharing contracts (PSCs). NPC would be allowed to operate as a fully commercial entity and raise funds independently to support its stakes in the joint ventures.