As May 29 draws close and industry watchers expect that the [Petroleum Industry Bill] will be passed into law anytime before then, we have sought to have a peek into what the final document may look like...If you have pointed interest in environmental and social elements of our laws, as some of us do, you can expect a PIB that is not as good as the initial draft that was made public...A cursory look at the items deleted from the original document...gives an indication that the pressures for this watered-down law came heavily from those who care least about the environment and the communities in whose territory the oil fields happen to be...The senate committee recommends the deletion of a section that stipulated that oil companies "be responsible for any environmental damage, pollution or ecological degradation occurring within the licence or lease area as the result of exploration or production activities..."...Another section that has significant deletions is found in the provisions for labour rights...If the copy of the PIB we have seen is an indication of what we are to expect, it is clear that another opportunity to sanitise the sector is being squandered.