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Senate probes 7 Int’l oil firms over refusal to remit $21bn

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The Nigerian Senate has asked three of its committees to immediately probe seven International Oil Companies (IOCs) for alleged refusal to remit to the government about $21 billion.

The vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources, Ifeanyi Ubah, had in a motion, during plenary on Wednesday told his colleagues that the IOCs allegedly refused to honour the provisions of the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) Act.

The Acts of the National Assembly regulates the sharing of additional revenue between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the various oil companies.

The Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act Cap D3 LFN 2004 (PSC Act) became effective on January 1, 1993.

The senator, who noted that the legislation ought to be reviewed after 15 years, said owing to the non-review of the PSC Act, that the Federal Government had lost about $21 billion over a period of 20 years.

A former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu was said to have confirmed the development after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on December 14, 2017.

Ubah said there was need to carefully investigate reasons for the failure to review the salient provisions of the PSC Act.

According to the senator, aside the crude oil price of $20, the share of the Government of Nigeria in the additional revenue was adjusted to the extent that the PSCs shall be economically beneficial to the federal government in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

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After debating on the matter, the Senate asked committees on Petroleum Resources Upstream; Judiciary and Legal Matters, and that of Finance, to find out reasons for the failure to review the salient provisions of the PSC Act.

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