The Speaker of the House of Representatives has said the House Committee set up to reform the country's oil and gas sector will continue work during the agriculture break. House Speaker J Alex Tyler told legislative reporters Thursday September 6, 2012 at the Capitol Building in Monrovia that although the House is going on recess, its committee will continue to fast-track the reform process.

The House on Thursday held a formal ceremony marking the end of its first working section. The House is due to resume work on the second Tuesday in January 2013. Speaker Tyler said the House has gathered the needed resources that will enable its committee to continue work on the oil and gas sector.

According to him, the oil and gas business is a "very delicate" matter and that requires intense research. "We want to ensure that the oil becomes a blessing and not a curse to Liberia and so we must carry on those necessary reforms before we move forward. We do not want to break our committee work so we encourage them to work all during the break to ensure that we come up with this long-awaited reform," he said.

The House decision to reform the oil and gas sector stems from recent controversy over the ownership of several oil blocks.