Abstract

The study investigates how local content can be enhanced in the oil and gas industry in a developing country like Nigeria. The empirical base was 18 in-depth interviews of professionals directly or indirectly related to the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The interviews revealed barriers for indigenous companies in accessing the industry. These were related to three major capabilities; capital, competence and delivery possibilities. It is suggested that the barriers can be solved by recognition of the interdependencies between actors associated with these capabilities. The actors include in addition to the foreign companies and the indigenous companies, educational institutions, legal system, educational and R and D institutions, financial institutions, industrial regulators and providers of infrastructure. The paper suggest framework for understanding the oil industrial network of Nigeria. The findings have implications for local content in all developing nations having a significant natural resource extraction industry.

Key words: Nigeria, oil industry, local content, industrial network, business relationships, sourcing.