Much a-do About the PIB

During my NYSC, my parents gifted me a car. She was small, dark blue and I couldn’t afford to maintain her. I was bagging 19,800 a month, just enough to keep up with all my regular expenditures. Add the car's upkeep, giving ‘for the boys’ money to policemen, random car repairs and I’ll be broke by week 2! But, I began to use her nonetheless, Begrudging every penny that went into her upkeep.

One day, her oil light came on. I needed to top her up with her choice beverage, the pricey SAE 10 . I, however, was not ready for such a splurge. So, I snuck into the generator house and pilfered SAE 40 oil from the diet that the generator oil consumed. After all, it worked quite alright with the generator.

You can guess what happened next: thick, blue smoke spilling from the exhaust, me thinking my car was on fire, crying and calling the mechanic from the side of the road, the drive of shame back home in my aso-ebi regalia, the mechanic laughing his head off when he came and realized the real issue… Plus, I had to now splurge on a whole jerrycan of the SAE10 oil instead of the miniature bottle. All of which would have been prevented if I had simply read the label on the SAE 40 bottle.

Hence, when I heard about the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), jumping to conclusions was the furthest exercise on my mind. Two questions: what is it and how does it benefit the country? The PIB is a proposed law that will, if passed, establish the legal and regulatory framework of institutions and regulatory authorities for the Nigerian petroleum industry. It also stipulates the deadline for operations in all sectors.

Who is the primary beneficiary of this bill? Us! Under the PIB, it will be illegal to employ foreigners for skills that can be sourced locally. Even if one has to be employed, it would be mandatory that Nigerians to understudy the expatriate. There will be more sourcing of materials locally over the international options. Enhanced exploration and maximizing the use of gas resources as a source of energy will increase power generation for the country. Most importantly, the new law will make provisions to protect the health and environment of petroleum operations.

As a Nigerian, I’m excited to see actual steps been taken to better Nigeria as a whole rather than a fragment at the cost of the rest. As an operative in the oil industry, you should be excited too. The PIB means more jobs in the sector; more dredging, shipping, and haulage. All you need is a company that can cater to your onshore, offshore and all your maritime needs.

At Dreg Waters, we are involved in the delivery of excellent maritime logistics and services. We assist in the recruitment of labour best suited to our client needs. We cater to other services such as procurement of licences and purchase of equipment. For the perfect partnership for this next phase in petroleum, Contact us at Dreg Waters today.