NOT WHAT THE BUS PROMISED: AN EXAMINATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE APPROACHES TO GAS FLARING IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Notwithstanding that Nigeria is rated as the number one producer of crude oil in Africa, oil exploration activities have resulted in a high rate of gas flaring. There are concerns that if nothing is done to curtail this menace, humans and the environment will be imperiled due to its negative consequences. Besides, associated natural gas that is generated from oil production 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. In order to address this challenge, this paper adopted the doctrinal research method and analysed the legal regime for gas flaring in Nigeria. The paper found out that weak enforcement of the anti-gas flaring laws by the regulatory authorities is responsible for this menace. In order to provide durable guidelines for legislations on suitable approaches to adopting and formulating anti-flaring legal frameworks, the paper undertook a comparative analysis of legal regimes on gas flaring in Nigeria and Canada. It therefore recommended the use of more advanced technologies, a sophisticated mixture of regulations and non-regulatory incentives such as fiscal policies and gas market restructuring in addressing the hazard.