Parliament is expected to hold hearings in the coming months.

One international oil executive argued that if it were to be passed as written, new investment could not occur because taxes and royalties would be too high.

“From what has been shared with us, this bill is not achieving (its stated objective of) unlocking investment in the country and increasing production and increasing government revenue,” he said.

“It’s going to achieve quite the opposite.”

The executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that currently the industry hands over on average 86 percent of net revenue to the government — a number that is quite difficult to verify independently.

According to him, there were too many variables to calculate a reliable percentage of what the government take would be under the new proposals, but he said it would amount to an increase.

Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke said recently that the bill “comes closest to what we consider a win-win situation for the government of Nigeria, the Nigerian economy and people as well as other stakeholders and potential investors in the oil and gas industry.”

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