Abstract
Despite the existing nuances, the relevance of the concept of sustainable development in natural resources production and management appears implicit. If nothing, it offers at least a minimum glimpse to evaluate whether some country rich in natural resources is on the durable development path. Norway is used in this article as a contrast for policy and legal comparison. The article argues that the Nigerian policy framework towards petroleum sector development strays from Norway’s core paradigm of petroleum policy evolution, which is predicated on sustainable development. The article thus analyses a few of the similarities Norway and Nigeria share regarding oil sector development as well as offers an opportunity to identify and investigate the policies and strategies Norway adopted, and to ascertain in what degree such policies and strategies sharply contrast with that of Nigeria so as to find out if there are valuable lessons to be learned for Nigeria. In other words, through a comparative assessment using the globally pre-determined rules of sustainable development law as a yardstick, relevant policy and legal frameworks similar in many ways to that of Norway are offered in the Nigerian oil sector. Simply put, the article adduces most significant reasons that can be distinguished to validate the claim that Norway differs from Nigeria in sustainable oil development terms.
Keyword: Petroleum, Norway, Policy, Comparison