Book excerpt: Oil is one of the major sources of energy today and one of those activities whose benefits cut across political, economic, social and cultural realm. The benefits of oil exploitation and production depend immensely on how it is managed. The principal objective of this paper is to undertake a critical analysis of the effectiveness of upstream petroleum contracts and to improve on the principal laws that craft and regulates such contracts in Cameroon. In order to meet the objectives of the study and to address the problem, data was collected through the exploitation of secondary and primary sources of information. The methods utilized to collect secondary data were books, academic journals, magazines, oil companies' reports and official government publications. To compliment secondary data, primary data was also used and this was done essentially through interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires. In the treatment of the data, the methodology utilized by the researcher was the critical analyses of the statutory instruments in force which regulates oil exploitation and contracts in Cameroon. After analyzing the data, the ensuring findings revealed that in spite of the contributions of oil to the national wealth of the country, it has increased environmental degradation and the exploiting communities are the most affected and they turn to benefits very little from the activities of oil exploitation. From this conclusion, the researcher strongly recommends that there should be a revision on the existing legal initiatives especially the petroleum code that regulates oil exploitation and contracts in Cameroon .This will not only ensure the effective implementation of oil contracts in Cameroon but will also influence oil companies behaviors towards more sustainable practices through regulations.