RWI Analyzes Nigeria's Petroleum Reform Bill

Nigeria's National Assembly is currently reviewing a sweeping Petroleum Industry Bill, which would dramatically restructure the management of the country's oil industry in an effort to improve management, reduce corruption, and promote long-term development.

The Bill has been the subject of intense debate among citizens, companies, and government officials throughout Nigeria. Revenue Watch Legal Analyst Patrick Heller has conducted a review of the Bill and poses a serious of key upstream questions that the National Assembly should consider before passing the measure into law. Heller's analysis concludes that the Bill's broad goals are fundamentally important for the positive transformation of the oil industry in Nigeria, but that current drafts have several shortcomings that the National Assembly should seek to investigate as the process advances. Among the most important issues for the legislature to examine in detail are the roles and oversight of the new institutions to be charged with managing the sector, and the need for a clear strategy for fiscal arrangements to provide the government with an appropriate share of revenues.

LEARN MORE

• The Nigerian Petroleum Industry Bill: Key Upstream Questions for the National Assembly (pdf)
• Fulbright Fellow Maps Corruption in Nigeria's Oil Sector
• NIGERIA: Windfall Savings Policy Can't Replace Good Revenue Management
• NIGERIA: Overview