Contractual arrangements in the Nigeria's oil industry

Abstract

Nigeria is about the 7th largest producer of oil in the world by virtue of which she is a major player at the international oil market. But Nigeria is not technologically self-sufficient; hence, requires the developed nation’s technology to enable her maximally explore and produce the oil and gas she is rich in. To achieve this, Nigeria entered into contracts with different international oil companies. Thus, this paper explicitly sets out these various contracts, critically analyses their nature, features, distinguishing characteristics, etc. It also discovers the problems with the application of the contracts considering the political background of the developed nations vis-à-vis Nigeria’s yet to be developed background, and made recommendations on the way forward. This paper concludes that with the application of the contractual arrangements as amended and the recommendations hereto, Nigeria’s richness in oil and gas will be evidenced in their control of the oil industry with resultant increase in revenue and foreign earnings.

Keywords: Nigeria, oil and gas, contracts, concession, exploration production