Govt scraps DPR, PPPRA

The Fedearal Government has scrapped the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) under its planned reform of the oil sector.They are to be replaced with the Petroleum Technical Bureau (PTB) and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (DPRA), if the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed by the National Assembly.

The House of Representatives, yesterday, returned the PIB to President Goodluck Jonathan, claiming that it has no time to consider the bill because of its impending vacation.

But the Senate has promised not to delay the bill’s passage.

Under the bill, the government is offering 30 per cent equity to Nigerians in the unbundled Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Another major provision of the bill sent to the lawmakers on Wednesday is the government’s decision to ensure total deregulation of the downstream sector.

According to a copy of the bill obtained last night by our correspondent, the new agencies that will emerge from NNPC, three months after the bill is signed into law, are National Oil Company, National Petroleum Assets Management Corporation, and National Gas Company.

Nigerians and other investors will have the opportunity to own 30 per cent shares in the National Oil Company and 40 per cent in National Oil Gas Company.