The Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru has disclosed that, despite the non- passage of the contentious Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), by the National Assembly, Nigeria appears to be attracting investors in the oil and gas industry as the corporation had raised about $11.9 billion to finance projects and crude forward sales.

Speaking at the ongoing 50th Offshore Technology Conference, OTC, in Houston, Texas, Baru said there was renewed investors’ confidence in the industry. This came as he assured that the petroleum industry bill will be passed in the third quarter of 2018.

Giving a hopeful perspective of Nigeria’s oil industry, he said: “From a policy perspective, there are ongoing reforms in the industry in the mould of the Petroleum Industry Bill.

The PIB as it is today has been split into four parts by the National Assembly as follows- the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), the Host Communities, Fiscal Reforms and the Administration Bill.

Whilst the Governance Bill has been passed, the other three are at different levels of review. “Nonetheless, we have assurances from our National Assembly that by early Q3, 2018 there wil be light at the end of the tunnel. Its passage is important to help unlock billions of Dollars of investments which have been held up due to the uncertainty of its passage. Permit me to use this opportunity to commend our legislature for their commitment to deliver on this very important national assignment,” he said.

According to him, the upward swing in the price of crude oil signifies that good times are here again. “This year’s event is also coming up at a time when we see an upward swing in crude oil prices to the 70s region. I recall that this time last year, we were in the 50s region. Possibly the good times are here again. We hope it stays.’’