Analysis of the Legal Framework Governing Gas Flaring in Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Sector and the Need for Overhauling
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Date
2020-07
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Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Nigeria is rated the number one producer of crude oil in Africa. Still, oil exploration
activities have resulted in a high rate of gas flaring due to weak enforcement of the anti-gas flaring
laws by the regulatory authorities. Associated natural gas is generated from oil production, and it is
burnt in large volumes, thereby leading to the emission of greenhouse gases and waste of natural
resources which could have generated billions of dollars for the Federal Government of Nigeria.
There are concerns that if nothing is done to curtail this menace, humans and the environment will
be imperiled due to its negative consequences. There is therefore a need to decrease gas flaring by
replicating the strategies applied in the selected case study countries to combat the menace. It is
relevant to carry out this analysis to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the oil industry for the
sustainability of the energy sector and to generate more revenues for the government. This study
provides guidelines for legislatures on suitable approaches to adopt for formulating an anti-flaring
legal framework. The study is a comparative analysis of national legal regimes on gas flaring in
Nigeria, Canada, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Norway. The study adopts a doctrinal
legal research method, a point-by-point comparative approach with a library-based legal research
method. The study finds that weak enforcement of laws is a critical factor responsible for the menace.
It recommends the use of more advanced technologies, a sophisticated mixture of regulations and
non-regulatory incentives such as fiscal policies and gas market restructuring, and pro ers further
suggestions based on the lessons learnt from the selected case study countries.
Description
Staff Publication
Keywords
gas flaring;, enforcement of laws;, global warming;, environment;