The role of law in petroleum resource governance and predicting the natural resource paradox in Africa

With the world gradually turning away from oil after decades of maximisation, many oil-rich nations particularly in developing countries are beginning to question the extent to which they made the most of this finite resource. This chapter draws on the resource theory and examines this same question in the context of a variety of African countries, namely; Nigeria, Uganda, and Libya. The objective is to determine the extent to which the resource curse can be predicted in jurisdictions that are potentially oil-rich but relatively at a nascent stage of oil and gas development. Using a variety of factors and modeling, such prediction serves as a warning sign for emerging oil-rich countries to redesign oil sector governance regimes that are robust, resilient, and relational in nature. More specifically, while there are several options for resolving or at least mitigating the resource particularly because of its multifaceted nature, this chapter focuses on the role of an Impact Benefit Agreements (IBAs). It examines the benefit of a direct contractual agreement between multinational oil companies and host communities that are directly impacted by oil exploratory activities. This agreement will provide terms that resolve environmental and socio-economic symptoms of the resource curse without hindering international or domestic legal regimes.