Oil Producers' Trade Section of the
Lagos Chamber of Commerce has said that the Petroleum Industry Bill could cost
Nigeria over $109 billion of investment if passed in its present state.
According to a presentation by the
industry body, the unfavorable fiscal terms would result in Nigeria's oil
production hitting a plateau of about 3 million barrels a day around 2016, and
then start to decline as $109 billion in planned new investment would no longer
be economically feasible.
Nigeria has long planned a thorough
overhaul of its oil industry, encompassing everything from tax rates to
environmental laws to the structure of the country's state-owned oil company,
but the bill has stoked controversy and drawn strong criticism from the oil
sector.
Uncertainty over the bill's passage
has already taken its toll on the industry.
Last year, Nigeria's Department of
Petroleum Resources said the country's recorded reserves had fallen to 36.5
billion barrels from 37 billion barrels in 2010 as a result of a slowdown in
investment linked to uncertainty over the bill
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