The House of Representatives has reiterated its commitment to ensuring that the Petroleum Industry Bill is passed soon.

At the 3rd Downstream Stakeholders’ Conference of the House Committee on Petroleum Downstream in Abuja on Monday, the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Emeka Ihedioha, said that the House would do its best to ensure that the Bill would be passed after serious scrutiny.

“The role of legislation in driving development in the oil and gas sector cannot be overemphasised.

“The primary legislation in the oil and gas sector, which is the Petroleum Industry Bill, is currently under consideration in the National Assembly and the House of Representatives has subjected the bill to serious scrutiny and is committed to passing it soon.

“I am certain that you will say this is a recurrent thing we always say. They say the bill is coming, the bill is coming, yes, we are taking our time to consider the bill.

“Take my words very seriously, the house shall consider the bill and shall pass it,” he said.

The Petroleum Industry Bill is seen as one legislation that will correct the anomalies in the oil and gas sector and bring about needed development in the sector, as it would remove the uncertainty in the sector that stakeholders said was hindering investments in the sector.