Nigeria looks poised to privatize its national petroleum company, according to the details of a Bill originating from President Muhammadu Buhari, APA learnt on Monday.Details of the intended privatization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) are contained in an oil reform bill which was amended last year.

President Buhari has since sent the Bill to the Nigerian Senate which would look into several amendments dealing with deepwater royalties.

Under the proposed legislation, the NNPC would become a limited liability corporation operating as an entity without  access to state funds.

The Bill must pass through the Senate and the House of Representatives for it to become law in Nigeria.

Laws regulating Nigeria’s oil and gas industry have not be reviewed since they were crafted in the 1960s.

The government said it was time they were reviewed to keep the industry abreast with changes to sharing the country’s oil wealth among the 36 states of the Nigerian federation.

Africa’s most populous country is the continent’s premier exporter of crude oil.