The upper house of Nigeria’s parliament, the Senate, has finally approved the long-awaited second reading of an oil industry overhaul bill that has been stagnate for ten years—a necessary step towards more effectively managing the country’s oil wealth. Part of the bill would establish a regulatory commission that would deal with oil revenue distribution—an issue that has shaken the very heart of Nigeria’s oil industry, most recently with the Forcados bombing on Tuesday, which forced a pipeline closure that has resulted in a 200,000 barrel per day loss for the already troubled country. Preventing future outbreaks of attacks against Nigeria’s oil facilities would require amendments to the country’s 17-year old constitution, according to the Ijaw Youth Council, a group that has played a key role in placating energy-related violence in the past. “We’re not expecting much out of this meeting,” Udengs Eradiri, the president of the […]