Judging from recent headlines, Nigeria has unleashed one of the most spectacular legal attacks on one of its key oil and gas investors, to an extent previously unseen in the country’s more than 60 years of hydrocarbon production. Shell has been active in Nigeria ever since the African country opened up to international investment in the early 1960s, maintaining its position as one of the leading actors in its upstream segment, accounting for roughly 10% of Nigeria’s crude production. Seemingly, the timing is quite inopportune for a large-scale feud – projects are getting delayed and drilling contracts cancelled, Nigeria’s GDP dropped 2% in 2020 just as was bouncing off its period of economic lassitude and OPEC+ production curtailments limiting the potential output of Nigerian producers. Despite the odds, the conflict between Nigeria and Royal Dutch Shell might be a harbinger of great transformations, not necessarily to the benefit of […]