LEGISLATION WATCH- Natgas authority won’t be able to hand out fines and then benefit from the proceeds: The House of Representatives amended yesterday the Natural Gas Act to make the state’s coffers the primary beneficiary of fines for those who violate the act, according to local press pickups of a story in state news agency MENA. The act, signed into law in 2017, had originally made the Natural Gas Regulatory Authority responsible for collecting fines outline in the act. The decision came after officials decided there might be a conflict of interest in the authority both handing out fines and then collecting them to fund its own operations.

Background: The Natural Gas Act deregulates the industry by allowing the private sector to trade gas through existing infrastructure. The law established the Natural Gas Regulatory Authority as the regulator for the industry, giving it a say in pricing, mandating it with regulating the system, giving it the power to both make policy and hand out licenses, and tapping it to promote investment in the sector. The authority regulates both public and private sector players.