THE ROLES OF PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.0 Introduction
In Nigeria the quest for better standard of living has resulted to a swift in the Nigerian economy. The contribution of oil industry to the development of the country’s economy therefore is a broad and extensive functional activity which embraces a wealth of task such as oil exploitation, share of industry, petroleum production account and external debt. These functions centers on the petroleum industry as  survival of Nigeria, economically.
- Background to the study
Nigeria is situated in West African sub-region with a land mass of 923,768 sq km and a population that is presently more than 123 million people in 2009 as shown census. The global perception of Nigeria is that of a rich oil producing nation but with a growing poverty index (Yakub, 2008). Between 2000-2009, the price of crude oil which has contributed about 80% of the country’s GDP rose from $13 per barrel to a high of $125 per barrel. This also resulted in significant increase in revenue generated. The annual budget expenditure between the period under review increased from 470 billion (naira) to 2.676 trillion(naira).
THE ROLES OF PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA
