TheCable

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) will attract more investments to the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

Uyi Akpata, country senior partner at PwC Nigeria, in a statement on Thursday, said the PIA would transform the regulatory and fiscal landscape in the oil and gas industry.

On August 16, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the much-anticipated PIB.

According to Akpata, all stakeholders in the petroleum industry will derive benefits as contained in the provisions in the act.

He said the PIA which was “one of the most audacious attempts to overhaul the petroleum sector in Nigeria would transform the legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal landscape with far-reaching implications for all’.

Akpata also said that the PIA would drastically redefine the Nigerian oil and gas landscape through its wide-ranging impact on various fundamental aspects of the economy including energy, banking, insurance, among others.

In his presentation of insights from a survey of business executives across the country, Taiwo Oyedele, PwC’s fiscal policy partner, said expected economic implications of the PIA include improvements in corporate governance of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Others are scope for improved monetary and fiscal policies, as well as minimisation of hostility and insecurity.

He said that if diligently implemented, the PIA would attract investment, improve foreign exchange earnings and help stabilise the naira.