The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, TIMIPRE SYLVA, says deliberations on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly have been shifted to the first quarter of next year.

At the sidelines of the Joint Executive-Legislature Leadership Retreat at the Presidential Villa Banquet Hall in Abuja, SYLVA told journalists that the National Assembly said they need to work on the 2021 Appropriation Bill.

This, according to him, was one reason why deliberations on the PIB had to be shifted, adding that the lawmakers explained that the 2021 Appropriation Bill needed to be ready before January next year.

The Minister expressed the belief that the bill would be passed in the first quarter of next year because there was consensus around the passage of the PIB.