NATURAL GAS UTILIZATION IN NIGERIA AND IMPEDIMENTS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE GAS SECTOR: A JURISDICTIONAL APPROACH

Abstract

It has become critical for Nigeria to decide how to best use its natural gas reserves while simultaneously
protecting the environment and ensuring the sustainable development of its gas industry. The potential
for gas sector development in Nigeria is enormous. Nevertheless, this paper contended that factors such
as violations of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act, and a
lack of gas infrastructure could impede the sustainable development of the gas sector. The objectives of
this paper, which adopted the doctrinal research methodology, include examining the role of gas
utilization companies in encouraging sustainable growth of the gas sector, the obstacles thereto, while
focusing on Norway and Algeria as subjects of a jurisdictional study. The paper finds that these
countries’ sustainable growth in the natural gas industry was the result of a mix of stringent regulation,
efficient enforcement, and a well-planned infrastructural basis. In contrast to Algeria, where compliance
with environmental impact assessment is mandatory, the process remains weak and ineffective in
Nigeria; the PIA's exemption practice represents a weak link in the Act which operators may take
advantage of; and gas infrastructure remains inadequate. It recommends that the appropriate agencies
should prevent licensees and operators from taking advantage of gaps in the EIA and the PIA, and that
the government and other interested parties embark on deliberate funding of gas infrastructure to ensure
that Nigeria's natural gas is used utilized maximally while reducing emissions, in order to guarantee
sustainability in the gas industry.