Much-needed reform of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil-producing state, would involve reorganizing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which is both a regulatory body and state-owned oil and gas company. Proposed legislation would create independent entities from a number of NNPC divisions, reassigning responsibilities for policy-making; technical matters; upstream, midstream and downstream operations; gas regulation; and research and development. But the makeover will not be easy. The Nigerian state is a vast pyramid of patronage with decisive power resting on the president’s desk in Abuja. Competition for ever-greater allocations of oil revenue has created an artificial reliance on the central government, with the NNPC serving as chief enabler. Hence, any attempt to restructure the NNPC will affect the country to its core, impacting entrenched political power bases as well as average Nigerians who are growing ever more dependent on gasoline and electricity for living a modern life.
