Oil and Gas Industry Contents Development Act 2010 (Local Content) Law and Challnges in Nigeria

Any policy, law or regulatory framework that adds value to the indigenous host country’s goods, services and human beings has in it the local or indigenous content. An examination of the Oil and Gas Contents Development Act 2010 in Nigeria will show significant progress made in the foray of the hitherto the dark horse – indigenous oil and gas companies into the elite oil and gas class previously `reserved` for the Multinational Oil and Gas Corporations. This was made possible by the emerging local content laws. However, a lifting of the veils of its actual performance, would reveal both latent and patent challenges facing the application of local contents laws particularly in Nigeria., This paper examines the operations of the Nigeran Oil and Gas Contents Development Act 2010, the challenges and possible recommendations on how to bring it in line with the best global practices. This paper found amongst others that infrastructural and capacity development are the power- base to driving effective local content application anywhere but are sadly lacking in Nigeria. It also found that the Nigerian version of the local contents law tilts towards protectionist regime rather than liberal approach and that a synergy of both frameworks is desired for the smooth operations of local content laws in Nigeria. This paper finally concludes that Nigeria can take a cue from other countries such as Norway and Brazil while considering the peculiarities of the Nigerian oil and gas industry