In the early 1990’s, desperately short of hard currency, Nigeria negotiated contracts permitting the oil companies to develop new fields and recoup their investment before sharing profits. Now, following the companies’ discovery of massive reserves, technocrats appointed by Yar’Adua to take charge of oil policy want Nigeria to get a larger slice of the pie.
在1990年代初期，由于硬通货紧缺，尼日利亚通过谈判签订合同，允许石油公司开发新油田，并在共享收益之前对其投资进行补偿。现在，随着石油公司发现了大型油田，由Yar’Adua任命负责制定石油政策的技术官僚们想要分更大的一杯羹。这也意味着停止政府分担营运成本而要求各石油公司通过资本市场解决资金不足的问题。