Synopsis:

The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) enacted in 2021 is significantly reshaping the petroleum industry in Nigeria as implementation of its provisions continues. The act embodies changes to regulatory institutions, fiscal regimes, environmental accountability, financing, exploration, and supply obligations. It also introduces very radical changes to acreage administration and frontier basin development in Nigeria, emplacing new guidelines, incentives, and challenges for operators in the industry.

The new acreage administration provisions in the PIA are a change to the system that has been utilized for the last fifty years. Regulators, concessionaries, and investors in the industry are still grappling with the process of implementing the new provisions. There are uncertainties around the scope and practicability of certain elements of the law, and the industry needs a clear understanding of the act. Different concessionaries have approached the acreage administration differently, and the TIW presents an opportunity to share lessons, ideas, and options.

Furthermore, Nigeria has many basins (Benue, Dahomey, and Anambra) with good potential that have been largely unexploited. The PIA has introduced provisions that have impacted the administration of this frontier basin development. Funding has now been codified in the law, fiscal incentives have been introduced, and the management of these basins is now domiciled with the regulator. Investors and interested stakeholders want to understand more about the potential, opportunities, and enablers the PIA provides. The TIW will be an opportunity for the appropriate stakeholders to discuss the issues.