The summit, with a theme: “The Downstream Regime in the Petroleum Industry Bill: Stakeholders Perspective” will hold at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
It will examine the likely effect of Bill on the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
The committee, in a statement, said the summit would be “a bolster to the Bill, which recently passed Second Reading in the House of Representatives.”
The summit will examine: the Petroleum Industry Bill and its Implication for a Deregulated Downstream Sector; the Institutional Framework for the Downstream Sector under the Petroleum Industry Bill; the Implication of the Petroleum Industry Bill for Investments in the Downstream Sector of the Petroleum Industry.
The committee said: “The findings and conclusions arising from these and other adjunct issues will hopefully assist the honourable members in fully understanding the implications of the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill.”
The committee’s Chairman, Hon. Dakuku Peterside, said: “The importance of stakeholders in the PIB is an integral and necessary part of the law making process.”
Peterside added that the undivided attention that trailed the PIB while debate lasted on the floor of the House, during which no single dissenting vote was heard against the Bill shows the law makers were unanimous in their quest for a new dawn in Nigeria’s oil sector.
He said the PIB holds the key, not only for the industry and major players but also for oil bearing communities. “The PIB is a reform-focused document that will harmonise all the existing laws relating to the oil industry. It will guarantee the independence of efficient and effective, process-led regulatory agencies which will protect the interest of the all stakeholders, including consumers ,and promote transparency and openness in the administration of the petroleum resources of Nigeria.”
According to him, proper regulation of the industry is one of the most serious challenges in the Niger Delta.
The committee said the summit “is a fallout of the Nigerian Refining Capacity Summit otherwise known as Uyo 2012 which held earlier in March.”
It added: “Uyo 2012 provided a veritable platform for addressing the challenges facing the downstream oil and gas sector, particularly as it affects refining. The Nigerian Refining Capacity Summit 2012 was a precursor to The Downstream Stakeholders Conference coming up on Monday, the 26th of November 2012 . The March gathering pointed the way forward and subsequent meetings will continue to draw substantially from it because of the serious questions posed and the solutions proffered. Uyo thoroughly examined through its speakers and panellists the vexed issue of deregulation and alternative refining models for Nigeria. National economic planners, policy makers and legislators will continue to benefit from the exhaustive key facts and solutions contained in the summit communiqué.
“Among stakeholders, expectations are high. The secondleg in the series is already generating great interest both in the public and private sectors. The one-day meeting promises amongst other objectives to fully engage all interest groups in the sector in the drive towards the passage of a functional downstream regime in the Petroleum Industry Bill.
“Since the assembly in Uyo in March, a lot has been done by the Committee to raise awareness around critical issues and challenges in areas such as security, infrastructure, legislation, the environment, capacity building and regulation.”
SOURCE: 22 November 2012.
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