A Comparative Legal Analysis of Natural Gas Utilization and Sustainable Development Barriers in Nigeria

Abstract

It has become imperative for Nigeria to decide the best way to use its natural gas reserves while protecting the environment on the one hand, and ensuring the sustainable development of its gas industry on the other hand. 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, 1994, gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 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 comparative jurisdictional study. The paper finds that sustainable development in the natural gas sector of the selected 
countries was the result of a mix of stringent regulations, 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 exploit; while gasinfrastructure remains inadequate. It recommends that the appropriate agencies should prevent licensees and operators from taking advantage of gaps in the EIA Act and the PIA; revocation of licences of errant project proponents; and intentional investment in critical gas infrastructure by stakeholders in order to guarantee sustainability in the gas industry in Nigeria.