President Bola Tinubu has directed the introduction of fiscal incentives for related projects, reduce contracting costs and timelines, and promote cost efficiency in local content requirements in the oil and gas sector.
The Presidential order is sequel to “extensive engagements, analyses, and benchmarking with other jurisdictions”.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement issued on Wednesday titled ‘President Tinubu signs executive orders on oil and gas reforms’ indicated that the President approved the introduction of fiscal incentives for non-associated gas, midstream and deepwater developments.
The Orders also streamlined the contracting process to compress the contracting cycle to six months as well as “the application of the local content requirements without hindering investments or the cost competitiveness.”
According to him, the directive is in line with his efforts to remove obstacles to investments in Nigeria, harness the nation’s resources and diversify the economy for the benefit of Nigerians and it is also expected to improve the investment climate and position Nigeria as the preferred investment destination for the oil & gas sector in Africa, the statement further explained.
The President’s aide clarified that the incentives were developed in collaboration with the Federal Ministries of Justice, Finance, Petroleum, Budget and Economic Planning, Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.
He stated that the details of the policy directives would be gazetted and communicated by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation and that the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu Verhijen, had been directed to “continue coordinating the aforementioned stakeholders to ensure the implementation of these directives within a stipulated time frame.”
