PETROLEUM (AMENDMENT) DECREE 22 OF 1998
THE Federal Government hereby decrees as follows:-
1. The Petroleum Act (in this Act referred
to as "the principal Act") is amended as set out in this Act.
2. Section 1 of the principal Act is
amended in subsection (2) by -
(a) substituting for
the full stop at the end of paragraph (c), the following, that is -
"; or
"; and
(b) inserting
immediately after paragraph (c), as amended, the following new paragraph, that
is -
"(d) from part of the
Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria"
3. Section 2 of the principal Act is amended by
deleting paragraph (a) of subsection (2).
4. Section 7 of the Principal act is
amended -
(a) in subsection
(1), by deleting the words in bracket, that is, "(of the existence of
which the Minister shall be the
sole judge)"; and
(b) by substituting
for subsection (5), the following new subsection, that is -
"(5) The Minister may, for the purpose of
subsection (1) of this section, advise the President to declare a state of
national emergency if the Minister is satisfied that, as a result of the low
level of availability of petroleum and petroleum products
(a) there is an
actual breakdown of public order and
public safety in the Federation or any part thereof; or
(b) there is a clear and present danger of
actual breakdown of public order or
public safety in the Federation or any part thereof.
(6) The President may, on receiving the advise
of the Minister under subsection (5) of
this section, declare a state of national emergency under the provisions of the
Nigeria 1979, as amended, for the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, if
he is satisfied that it is necessary to do so"
(5) The First Schedule to the principal Act is
amended in paragraph 24(1), by substituting for sub-paragraph (a), the
following new sub-paragraph, that is -
"(a) is not
conducting operations -
(i) Continuously,
(ii) in a vigorous
and businesslike manner in accordance with the basic work programme
approved for the licensee, and
(iii) in accordance
with good oil field practice; or"
6. this Act may
be cited as the Petroleum (Amendment) Decree 1998.
MADE at Abuja this 30th day of
September 1998.
GENERAL ABDULSALAM ALHAJI ABUBAKAR,
Head of State, Commander-in-Chief
of the
Armed Forces
Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note
does not form part of the above Decree but is intended to explain its purport).
The Decree
amends the Petroleum Act to delete those provisions which inhibit competition
in the petroleum sector of the economy.
Accordingly,
the Decree, among other things -