Nigerian parliament committee finishes key oil law report

ABUJA (Reuters) – A Nigerian House of Representatives committee has finalised a key report on a new National Petroleum Industry bill, recommending that the president’s power to grant oil licences should be removed, according to a document seen by Reuters.An executive summary of the report also said the government should float 30 percent of the state oil company, NNPC, on the Nigerian stock exchange.The summary did not say when the report would be submitted to the lower house of parliament for a vote.Drawing up the petroleum bill – expected to be one of the biggest shake-ups of the oil industry in Africa’s top crude producer – has taken years, but politicians said completing the committee report was the toughest part of the process.Besides a parliamentary vote, the upper house Senate must also complete a report and approve it by a vote.In other recommendations, the summary said the government should start monitoring oil output by measuring at flow stations, rather than at the point of export, in a bid to bring clarity to production figures and crack down on corruption.It also said the new bill should not affect the “sanctity” of existing petroleum licences, allaying industry concerns that it might be applied retroactively.