The Senate on Wednesday passed the Petroleum Industry Bill into first reading.
The bill, tiled: “Petroleum Industry Bill,” was sponsored by Senator Abdullahi Yahaya.
The bill was passed into first reading 48 hours after the National Assembly leadership held an interactive session with the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari.
The bill had been in the National Assembly since 2007.
The bill proposes the establishment of an agency known as the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, which will be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum operations.
Section 4 of the bill states in part: “There is established the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (the commission) which shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.
“The commission shall have the power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, sue and be sued in its own time. The commission shall be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation Of upstream petroleum operations.”