ABSTRACT

The issue of greenhouse emissions, global warming and climate change have become major environment concerns of the twenty-first century in both local and international conventions. Moreover, it is an undisputable fact that the process of gas flaring during crude oil exploration has been a major source of greenhouse emission in oil producing countries like Nigeria. Therefore, this study examines the problem of greenhouse emission which occur as a result of gas flaring in Bayelsa state, and the inability to eliminate it by the regulatory agencies in the petroleum sector of Nigeria. The ex post facto research design was used as a blue-print which compelled the adoption of content analysis to critically analyze qualitative secondary data. By using the Marxian theory of social production as the theoretical framework, the report was able to verify the hypothesis that “there is a relationship between the nature and content of laws regulating the Nigerian petroleum sector and the inability to stop gas flaring in Bayelsa state”. This prompted the critical analysis of the nature and content of laws regulating the petroleum sector in Nigeria to ascertain their weaknesses in addressing the issue of gas flare elimination. Hence, the study recommended that a clear stipulation of measures, penalties and sanctions against gas flaring should be included in the laws regulating the sector. This will enable the regulatory agencies to take legal action against violators, which will enhance total elimination of the gas flare menace in Bayelsa