House Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Crude Oil Theft disclosed their intention to roll out five strategic bills to address oil sector woes
The House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Crude Oil Theft are set to introduce five critical bills aimed at resolving longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Chairman of both committees, Rep. Alhassan Ado Doguwa (APC Kano), made this known during a joint session held on Tuesday, emphasizing that the proposed legislative interventions are designed to support ongoing national efforts to safeguard vital oil infrastructure and combat crude oil theft.
“One of the bills seeks to establish a National Commission with the mandate to prevent and prosecute pipeline vandalism and other oil-sector-related crimes,” Doguwa announced.
He underscored the urgency of the move, citing the growing security concerns in oil-producing regions.
“The Committees and indeed the entire House are deeply concerned about the increasing insecurity and criminal activities around oil-producing areas. This intervention is a legislative response intended to complement government efforts in protecting these critical national assets,” he stated.
Doguwa noted the overlapping mandates of the two committees—Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Crude Oil Theft—highlighting their mutual focus on crude oil production and exportation.
“In my view, these two committees essentially deal with the same core issue: crude oil. While one focuses on the theft and security aspect, the other covers the drilling and export processes. That’s why we’ve decided to meet jointly and work together on these legislative proposals,” he explained.
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Among the proposed bills, one being championed under the Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Committee has the backing of the Speaker of the House. This particular bill proposes the establishment of a Commission to supervise the decommissioning of oil assets—a matter that has raised significant concern among host communities and industry stakeholders.
“The decommissioning process is a major policy priority of the current administration, but there are gaps in oversight. That’s why the Speaker and other leaders of the House have shown interest in backing legislation that provides statutory authority and legal framework for a commission to manage this process, while also ensuring that the interests of host communities are taken into account,” Doguwa stated.
He added that while each of the five bills will be sponsored by different committee members, they will be presented as a unified legislative package to reflect a shared commitment.
“These bills will bear the names of different committee members, but they are not individual efforts. They represent our collective commitment to addressing the challenges in the sector and fulfilling the expectations of the leadership, government, and the Nigerian people,” Doguwa concluded.
Other bills being proposed include:
- A bill for an act to amend the petroleum production and distribution anti-sabotage act CAP B-12 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to provide penalties for pipeline vandalization and sabotage in Nigeria to prevent illegal tapping of oil heads and crude oil pipelines, siphoning at guard rail stations, storage facilities, terminals, and during crude oil tanker loading and illegal shipping. That is STS, transfers facilitated by oil tanker loading for related matters.
- A bill for an act to amend the Petroleum Industry Act number 6 of 2021 to empower the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission to calibrate the volume of measuring equipment used at fuel stations to determine the volume of crude produced at oil export terminals to ensure that the quantity of oil exported is accurately known and for related matters.
- A bill for an act to amend the Exclusive Economic Zone Act Act T-5 with the laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to increase the penalties from lawful access to the waters around oil wells, pipelines, terminals, and other infrastructure designated by the federal government as an area for exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources of other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the exclusive zone for related matters.
- A bill for an act to amend the Administration of Criminal Justice Act number 13, 2015 to prohibit plea bargaining for maritime-related offenses and for related matters.
