Nigeria’s preeminent position as Africa’s largest oil producer has perpetually necessitated a delicate constitutional balancing act between attracting essential foreign investment and enforcing the sovereign rights enshrined in Section 44(3) of the 1999 Constitution. This comprehensive legal analysis examines the intricate dynamics of Joint Venture agreements and Production Sharing Contracts within Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector. Through rigorous doctrinal assessment of statutory frameworks, judicial precedents, and comparative models, the study reveals how Nigeria’s gradual transition toward Production Sharing Contracts introduces complex tensions between theoretical resource ownership and practical operational control. The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 emerges as a pivotal legislative intervention whose ultimate efficacy in reconciling these tensions remains contingent upon institutional capacity, anti-corruption enforcement, and consistent judicial interpretation of the state’s fiduciary obligations over hydrocarbon resources