The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets  Owners Association (PETROAN) has congratulated the National  Assembly for taking the bold step in passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

The President of the Association, Mr. Billy Grillis-Harry, congratulated the NASS while speaking with a news reporter in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that the bill is passed by both chambers of the National Assembly was a big blessing to the country.

“I congratulate the Senate President and all the senators who have worked tirelessly to see this development come to reality, especially the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.

“I also congratulate the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Malam Mele Kyari, and all the team that made this work.

“It is a little late, not much of what we are expecting but it is the beginning. Deregulation of the industry will now be the focus for us as a country,’’ he said

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that both chambers of the Assembly passed the PIB on Thursday.

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The bill intends to establish good governance, best practices, and ease of doing business in the industry.

This is by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of officials and institutions, enable frontier exploration, mandate improved environmental compliance, and transform NNPC into a commercially viable enterprise.

The PIB passed the third reading after Mohammed Sabo, Chairman of the Joint Committee Petroleum (upstream and downstream) and gas, presented a report and its clauses were put to voice vote.

The bill has five parts, eight schedules, and 319 clauses.

The PIB is important because almost all petroleum-related laws, including the Petroleum Act of 1969, had been belated for decades.