Executive Secretary, NEITI, Waziri Adio
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has canvassed a review of obsolete laws in the oil and gas contracts.
NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Waziri Adio, made the call at the unveiling of NEITI dashboard in Abuja.
He blamed the Federal Government for not being proactive in the review of extant laws guiding multinational oil companies.
According to him, the country failed to act when there was need for a review of terms in the 1993 crude oil Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) that was signed with oil companies.
Adio lauded the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for taking steps in releasing timely data on its operations.
He said the agency was addressing the situation to reduce losses suffered by oil companies.
He added that the plan was necessary to ensure that the country avoids repeating such mistakes.
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According to him, Nigeria allegedly lost over $21 billion since the terms of the contract, which was signed in 1993, became outdated.
The PSC, a form of joint agreement for exploration, development and production of oil resources, makes extractive companies to bear the cost of production.
This, he, said was unlike the joint venture agreement where government is indebted with cash call.
He said: “We believe in constant value, and one of the things we are going to do soon, is to study what we have done on the 1993 PSC.
“There are two trigger clauses in section 16 of the law.
One is that whenever the price of crude oil crosses $20 per barrel in real time that is adjusted for inflation, the contract should be reviewed in a way that is more financially rewarding for the country.”
He said the NEITI dashboard was developed as part of the implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) policy on Open Data.
According to him, the new platform would simplify the data in NEITI reports and create access to user-friendly data in NEITI reports, trend and analysis.
This, he added would ensure that information and data in the reports support citizens’ engagements and public debate.
Source: G Business
