THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ACT 2021 AND QUEST FOR STRICTER ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION IN NIGERIA’S ENERGY SECTOR

Abstract

As Nigeria continues to rely on her rich oil and gas deposits for economic survival, the environmental impact of the decades of continuous exploitation of these resources continues to stare her in the face. While several laws had been put in place to address the environmental threats posed by oil and gas (O&G) operation, the government has been continually accused of laxity and poor resilience in enforcing these laws in the face of the unhelpful conduct of the multinational oil companies (MNOCs). However, with the passage of the much awaited Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), many stakeholders are hopeful that many of the wrongs in the sector including as related to environment will be addressed by the new legal regime. Therefore, this paper examines the PIA with a view to seeing how much it may help the nation depart from the old culture of regulatory laxity that has left so much environmental disaster in the Niger Delta region. Adopting the doctrinal research approach, the writers analysed both primary and secondary data. The paper found that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has relevant provisions aimed at safeguarding the environment. Apart from merging all the previous legislations regulating the industry (including as related to the environment), the Act makes some novel prescriptions that have the potential to redefine the landscape of environmental regulation in the Nigeria’s O&G sector. However, it was further found that the PIA introduced little or nothing new towards strengthening the mechanism for implementation of the law which was the major reason the previous laws were poorly implemented. Similarly, the Act appears to have failed in some instances to prescribe strict penalties for violation of environmental rules thus making little or no departure from the previous laws that seemed to have been too lenient on offenders. The paper concluded that Nigeria, as against countries like Norway, has been less than decisive, and at best, has been lukewarm in legally regulating O&G operations to secure her environment. It was recommended that the government should strengthen the agencies charged with enforcement of environmental regulations in the O&G sector including by improving their technical and human resources capacity while efforts should also be made to rid these agencies of corruption and shield them from political interference for optimal performance.