THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ACT (PIA) AND THE FUTURE OF WORK IN THE NIGERIAN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: A STUDY OF WORKFORCE RESTRUCTURING, SKILL RECOMPOSITION, AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Samenvatting

The enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 marks a watershed in Nigeria's oil and gas sector, aiming to foster transparency, attract investment, and redefine the role of the state. However, its profound implications for the industrial sociology of the sector—specifically workforce restructuring, skill recomposition, and industrial relations—remain critically underexplored. This paper interrogates the Act’s impact on the future of work by analyzing the drivers and consequences of organizational change within International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the newly commercialized NNPC Limited. Drawing on Labour Process Theory and the Strategic Choice Framework, the research employs a qualitative methodology based on extensive document analysis of company reports, policy documents, and union communications. Findings indicate that the PIA’s market-driven logic is accelerating workforce rationalization, a shift towards precarious contract-based employment, and a strategic divestment from onshore assets, transferring labour management to indigenous firms with different industrial relations practices. Concurrently, the industry faces a mounting skills gap, necessitating a recomposition towards capabilities in gas, renewables, and digitalization, for which the current national educational infrastructure is underprepared. These changes are reconfiguring the tripartite industrial relations dynamics, challenging traditional unions like PENGASSAN and NUPENG, and testing the state’s dual role as regulator and employer. The study concludes that while the PIA promises sectoral modernization, its success is contingent on proactive policies for just labour transitions, robust social dialogue, and strategic human capital development to mitigate social unrest and harness emerging opportunities.