ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION OF OIL AND GAS ACTIVITIES IN THE NIGER DELTA OF NIGERIA: AN EVALUATION OF POLICY AND THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKS

Abstract

The detection and mining of crude oil and natural gas deposits in Nigeria over the
past four decades has massively boost the prosperity of the state but not devoid of its damaging
environmental impacts. Oil industries operate hundreds of producing wells, gas plants,
networks of thousands of kilometers where pipelines are constructed to connect from flow
stations to the terminal where crude oil is being exported to. Therefore, it requires a solid
policy and legal frameworks to ensure adequate regulation of oil and gas activities. It is on
this premise that this paper seeks to evaluate the policy and the legal frameworks on the
regulation of activities of oil industries in the Niger Delta with a view to ensure the protection
of environment. On this note, the paper discovers that while the policy has provided a solid
platform to ensure a sustainable oil and gas activities, there are some fundamental gaps in the
legal frameworks. Therefore, suitable suggestions are made to ensure adequate regulation of
oil and gas activities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.