Financial analysts said that quick implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) would accelerate more investments into the oil and gas sector.
They said this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
They said the new law was a paradigm shift in the management of hydrocarbon in the country.
A senior lecturer of Economics at Pan Atlantic University, Dr Bright Eregha, said the assent of the bill would open new investment opportunities into the sector.
“The new Act should be more business-friendly due to less government interference in the industry.
“Ideally, it should reposition the sector and reflect global best practice in its management,” Eregha said.
The don noted that the reorganisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was good and must be now more profit-driven.
“The successor company should have more business approach and operate like other multinationals.
“ The company should imbibe corporate governance ideals and embrace more professionals as its personnel because its mandates have changed,” he said.
However, Moses Igbrude, Chief Executive Officer, Ogu Investment, commended the President for signing the Petroleum Industry Bill into law.
“But the worry is the governing aspect of the new Petroleum Act, as having the new law is not an issue, but implementing it is the problem.
“Our country is not bereft of laws but the execution of such laws is where the challenge lies,” Igbrude said.
NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Aug. 16 signed the Petroleum Industry Bill into law.
The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal frameworks for the Nigerian petroleum industry.
The Senate had passed the bill on July 15 and the House of Representatives followed suit on July 16. (NAN)
