Effect Of Deregulation On The Oil Sector Of The Nigerian Economy:-Ariguzo, Sharon C

ABSTRACT

The oil industry has been contributing immensely to the Nigerian economy and that is why over 80 percent ofthe country‘sforeign exchange earnings come from this sector. Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantity, Nigeria has been experiencing consistent increase in revenue earning. Even with this increase, Nigerians are yet to enjoy the basic necessities oflife. We have witnessed strikes and demonstrations against poor supplier's incessant increase in the pump price ofrefinedproducts. It is against this background that this work seeks to examine the issue ofthe effect ofderegulation on the oil sector ofthe Nigerian economy. It has also being observed that the basic welfare of the people seems no longer the priority of the government but the fulfillment ofthe western neoliberal ideals such as deregulation ofthe entire Nigerian oil sector and other sectors ofthe economy and the privatization ofthe government’s owned enterprises. Least squares as well as unit root tests were used to access macroeconomic variables which are; GNP which is Gross National product, PPP which is Petroleum price product, INERT which is Inflation rate and EXR which is Exchange rate .The paper therefore desires to investigate the effects ofthe deregulation on the prices and consumption ofoil products and it’s effect on the well-being sector ofNigeria .The result reveals that oil, due to deregulation has a negative and significant effect on GNP in Nigeria. The method of data collection we used was based on observation and the sources ofdata collection were secondary.