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After over a decade of delays and setbacks, the Nigerian Senate has passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), which seeks to reform the country’s oil and gas industry. The Senate approved the PIGB on Thursday during a plenary session chaired by Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate.

“I congratulate the 8th Senate with the passage of this landmark bill which has not been passed for many years,” Saraki said.

The PIGB is the first of four bills that replaced the well-known Petroleum Industry Bill, which seeks to restructure organizations such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). The bill will also create new organizations, including the National Oil Company (NOC) to replace the NNPC and the National Petroleum Assets Management Commission (NPAMC).

The NOC, as proposed in the bill, will be an “integrated oil and gas company operating as a fully commercial entity and will be run like a private company”, while the NPAMC will be a “single petroleum regulatory commission which will focus mainly on regulating the industry.”

The NPAMC will also have responsibility for health and safety regulations in the oil and gas industry, while collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Environment on environmental issues.

Subsequent to its approval by the Senate, the PIGB will be sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence before it will be signed into law by the Nigerian President.