Nigerian reforms leave lingering doubts

Questions remain over some specifics of the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill and whether the reforms will be enough to jumpstart the country’s stalled upstream

Nigeria’s long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) finally became law this summer in the form of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). The legislation introduces significant changes, but some uncertainty and doubts still persist. Nigeria’s existing regulator, the Department of Petroleum Resources, will be replaced by two, separate bodies: the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (Nurc) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). There are “concerns” over the “cost-benefit” of having two regulators, professional services firm KPMG says, although the NMDPRA might “help to focus attention on the midstream and downstream rather than the current situation,