This archive report was first published on 5 July 2021.
On July 5, 2021, the Nigerian Senate made history by passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a two-decade long-awaited legislation aimed at overhauling nearly every aspect of the country's oil and gas production.
The PIB seeks to reform how Nigeria shares its oil resources with international oil companies, while also attracting new investments in the oil and gas sector. A key provision in the bill is a 30% funding mechanism of NNPC's profit from oil and gas for frontier basins, which will be used for oil exploration.
However, community leaders in Nigeria's oil-rich regions are seeking changes to the bill's latest version, calling for a larger share of revenues for the community. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recently signed a deal with Total, Shell, Eni, and Exxon to develop an offshore oil block, which includes the deepwater Bonga field. The NNPC views this deal as a historic moment, settling long-running disputes between the Nigerian government and international oil companies.
