The Brief: Nigeria's $11 billion showdown with P&ID: A close call

Yesterday, Nigeria heaved a sigh of relief when a London court ruled in its favour in a dispute between Nigeria and Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) over a lawsuit that could have cost Nigeria $11 billion.

The background to the story is covered in this article, but here is a quick recap. In the late 2000s, Nigeria wanted to end gas flaring by capturing the flared gas to convert it into electricity. None of the significant IOCs appeared interested, and eventually, an unknown firm—P&ID—signed a 20-year agreement with the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 to capture and convert flared gas to electricity.

By 2012, there were already problems. P&ID began arbitration proceedings against the FG, alleging a breach of contract. The company stated that while they had spent $40 million on preparatory engineering work and begun acquiring land from the Cross River State government, the FG had failed to fulfil