AN APPRAISAL OF SUSTAINABLE DECOMMISSIONING OF PETROLEUM INSTALLATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Despite the fact that crude oil production has been undertaken for decades in Nigeria, there is no evidence to show that any facility has been properly decommissioned. In the oil and gas industry, decommissioning is the process whereby abandoned or disused and obsolete installations and facilities are dismantled and the land or sea is reclaimed as much as possible to their original situation, so that they can be used again for other purposes. This involves the removal of all process plants and equipment and the radiological decontamination of the structure as far as possible. This is because, decommissioning has phases and each phase must receive adequate attention in order to forestall any future problems with associated costs. It is on the basis of the above that the aim of this paper is to appraise the environmental risks that disused oil and gas installations poses to the environment. The objective of this paper amongst others includes appraising the adequacy and efficacy of the existing laws regulating decommissioning of oil and gas installations in Nigeria. The doctrinal research methodology was adopted in this paper as both the primary and secondary sources of laws were relied upon. This paper found that the increasing adverse impact of pollution of Nigeria’s environment is increasingly becoming a concern to all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, howbeit; the regulatory regime with respect to decommissioning is grossly inadequate. There is thus an obligation on the part of the Nigerian government to put in place appropriate and comprehensive decommissioning guidelines and rules that addresses the complex interaction of environment, health and safety, cost, legal, engineering or technical, and political considerations. It was recommended amongst others that decommissioning cost should be extracted from operators before or at the time of the grant of the licenses to the operators.