By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Talks will begin soon on the deregulation of oil and gas now facilitated by the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has announced. But he did not disclose when they parley will commence.
Deregulation will take place once the federal government and Labour agree he said; in the meantime, he explained, petrol pump price remains N162 per littre.
“I cannot give you a timeline now. But it is not going to be too far from now because we have done quite a lot of extensive work,” Sylva told reporters in Abuja, per The Nation.
“As soon as the government and organised labour agree on the process of putting infrastructrure in place, Nigeria will deregulate.
“So, we will keep it here at N162 within that band now for the time being but we are also at the moment trying to work out to allow the deregulation to come to fruition.
“We have agreed between Labour and us that we need to put a framework in place for the implementation of deregulation.
“More or less, there is a consensus across the table now that deregulation is desirable. But how do we achieve it? That is the question now. But Labour and us have agreed on the process of putting the infrastructure and the process in place.
“We don’t even have a choice any more. It is a matter of law. We have to ensure that the ordinary Nigeria is well catered for before that law is actually operated.”
Sylva disclosed that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is leading the deregulation process and a lot of job has been done.
Petrol pump price
On the cost of petrol, he said: “We are also talking about the other option which is to give you the alternative fuel, which is gas.
“The President launched the auto-gas programme in December last year. That is also ongoing and we will put everything together.”
He spoke of plans to inaugurate completed refineries, adding that many have reached different completion stages.
Soaring cooking gas price
Sylva expressed concern over the soaring price of cooking gas but stressed that Abuja cannot intervene because the product is deregulated.
“We are not in a position to determine gas pricing because gas is not a regulated product. But then we are also very concerned that prices are high. We are also doing something about it.
“Just in the interest of the ordinary Nigerians, I have discussed with some of the suppliers. But I can tell you that it is not really our role.
“But we are trying to see how we can intervene with the suppliers to and have discussions to allow us see how we can bring down the price of gas to make it more affordable.
“I understand that the average cost of cylinder now is between N5,000 and N6, 000. But we are following the price and we are doing something about it with the suppliers.”
He reiterated government commitment to meet the deadline for delivering the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline.