Key Elements of The 2017 National Petroleum Policy

POLICY INITIATIVES

The above policy objectives of the NPP are addressed under a number of policy areas, including:

1. Governance

   This covers the legal and regulatory, institutional, commercial, fiscal and sector financing framework for the petroleum industry, as well as provisions for sovereign wealth fund and Niger Delta development. The critical reforms expected to be driven by the whole governance architecture are hereunder highlighted:

   • Promotion of new legislation, unbundling of the NNPC and establishment of new entitiesThe FGN intends to promote the enactment of new legislation, including the Petroleum Industry Reform Bill (“PIRB”), which will form the legal and regulatory framework for addressing a broad range of issues, including sector governance, fiscal regime, transparency and accountability, and environmental sustainability among others.Also, new entities are proposed to be established, pursuant to the PIRB, including:

     1.  National Petroleum Policy Directorate (“Directorate”) within the MPR – to act as a technical ‘Back Office’ for assisting the Minister of Petroleum Resources (“Minister”) in the formulation, monitoring and ensuring implementation of petroleum policies;

     2. Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) – which will be a new, independent, single regulatory body responsible for the technical and economic regulation of the entire petroleum sector;

     3. National Oil Company of Nigeria (“NOCN”) – an incorporated public entity to replace the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (“NNPC”) which will manage certain petroleum assets of the FGN, with equity to be listed on local and international markets;

     4. National Petroleum Asset Management Corporation (“NPAMC”), which will manage other petroleum assets of the FGN which are not allocated to the NOCN;

     5. Investment Promotion Office (“IPO”), which will be one of the divisions within the MPR and which will work in conjunction with the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (“NIPC”) in order to facilitate investments in the Nigerian petroleum industry.