New characteristics of oil and gas resources industry in Nigeria and suggestions for cooperation of China

The struggle of major powers and the demand for economic recovery in the post pandemic era have reshaped the energy order, exacerbating China’s energy security risks. It is necessary to timely strengthen the situation tracking of key resource countries. African countries represented by Nigeria have superior oil and gas resources, making them an important source of energy for China. In recent years, Nigeria has carried out an overall reform in the oil and gas industry, providing new opportunities for China to strengthen cooperation. Studying and judging the development situation of its oil and gas resources industry is of great significance for China to effectively use international resources and unswervingly enhance the “Belt and Road Initiative”. Based on the new situation, the development characteristics of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry reform and exploration and development are analyzed from three aspects: resource endowment, policy environment, and economic and trade environment. Through comparative analysis, it is comprehensively believed that Nigeria has a high endowment of oil and gas resources and great deep-water potential, but the growth of reservoir production is weak, and exploration activities are gradually shifting towards deep-water fields; the policy environment is consistently improving with the regulation system being mature and stable, and the overall tax burden is reducing; the refining capacity of Nigeria is limited, which provides greater cooperation space for collaborator. There is huge potential for cooperation in trade between China and Nigeria, and Chinese enterprises have obvious latecomer advantages in deep-water fields block circulation and downstream infrastructure. In the future, Chinese enterprises should pay attention to both the deep-water fields in the upstream and the refining sector in the middle stream. Consistent efforts shouldn’t be ignored in regional investment environment tracking, and the risk prevention awareness in both social and political area should be strengthened.