According to a report by the
International Energy Agency, IEA, there are indications that the refusal to
pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB might work against Nigeria’s economy. The
agency believes the reason behind the non-passage of the bill is owe to the
consistent oil theft among the core stakeholders in Nigeria’s petroleum
industry.
According to the agency, “The shift will in
part be due to an expected increase in production in Angola, but much of it is
the result of domestic issues in Nigeria.”
IEA further indicated that Nigeria currently
loses 150,000 barrels a day to oil theft, the equivalent of $5 billion a year:
“On top of that regulatory uncertainty, the result
of a seemingly-permanently stalled Petroleum Industry Bill, has led to delays
in investment decisions,” it said.
Speaking on Petroleum development, IEA’s Chief
Economist, Fatih Birol said that the condition that can put Nigeria in a
competitive market lies in her investment framework, oil theft and governance
issues,
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC, in its Annual Statistics Bulletin for 2013, put Nigeria’s total crude oil
and condensate production for the year at 800.488 million barrels giving a
daily average of 2.19 million barrels per day, dropping by six per cent from
the previous year’s production”.
The IEA also indicated that in the gas sector,
the NNPC reported a cumulative total of 2,325.14 billion Standard Cubic Feet
(BSCF) of Natural Gas production by twenty-five Companies representing a large
increase of 9.8% than previous years.
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