Abstract

Dating as far back as the early 2010s, the Nigerian oil and gas industry has been incrementally witnessing divestitures of both onshore and shallow water investments by International Oil Companies (IOCs) in favour of attaining new or focusing on their deep water assets. While divestments of onshore assets and investments in offshore fields are generally current trends in international energy business, the case of Nigeria is notable for peculiar reasons, prompting the authors to term it a 'peculiar energy transition'. The peculiarity of this energy transition is partly underscored by the fact that IOCs are micro-focusing on deep water assets to the exclusion of shallow water assets, albeit that shallow water assets are also offshore assets. This article explores the context and consequence of this 'peculiar energy transition'. It also interrogates the extent to which the 'peculiar energy transition' integrates local content, climate change, environmental protection, energy-food-water nexus, host community rights and other International Environmental Law considerations and translates to socio-economic prosperity for Nigeria.

This paper will be part of the OGEL Special Issue on "Offshore Energy Investments and Activities". More information here www.ogel.org/news.asp?key=710