COMPARATIVE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION AND SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This article has taken a critical survey of national and international laws and /or legal framework as well as revealed the existence of some critical provisions governing best practices for sustainable environmental management in the sphere of petroleum resources and pollution, particularly in the Niger Delta region. The legislative and institutional framework regulating Nigeria’s petroleum industry run through the whole gamut of subsisting laws contained in the Nigeria legal system including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, some of the international and regional treaties in force in the country, part of the laws made by the government of federating states, the local government edicts, common laws and case laws. This article examined in comparative context by reviewing the oil production activities, governmental policies and measures put in place in the following countries, Brazil, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroun and Chad. The article further reviews the efficacy of legal and institutional framework operational in these countries and critically compare them with the present Nigeria regimes on the production, exploration, and the environmental impact of oil activities specifically on the Niger Delta region. The article concluded that the adoption of effective sustainable reforms will encourage responsible petroleum exploration and production activities in ways that positively influence economic development of oilproducing host communities and also preserve human and environmental health, sustainable environmental management, good environmental governance, effective environmental management and protection in the Niger Delta region.