ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Environmental Management Practices in Crude Oil Producing Countries

Environmental Management Practices in Crude Oil Producing Countries

Introduction

In today's world, any country seeking success in their operations, development and growth in the market consider strategies that allow scalar important steps in the evolutionary chain. Like other countries, crude oil producing countries have some responsibility for the environmental problems plaguing our planet. This does not mean that they are solely responsible for environmental disasters, but on the contrary they have been responsible for creating awareness on the rational and sustainable use of natural resources (Pahl, 2007, 561). Today, international community demands and are increasingly aware that the oil producing countries adopt environmental policies aimed at reducing the impact to the environment and minimize the ecological footprint for many years, large corporations of different countries have made ??in the development of its oil activities. In this paper, we are going to focus on Nigeria which is famous crude oil producing country. We shall analyze how companies and various corporations in Nigeria are protecting environment through their environmental management strategies.

Nigeria

Nigeria is among the top crude oil producing countries that produces large amount of oil every year. It is estimated that Nigeria drills over 10 million barrels of oil. In Nigeria, there is gradual environmental degradation due because of petroleum operations. The oil industry of Nigeria in particular makes numerous processes that generate direct consequences on the environment, particularly air emissions, liquid effluents, solid and hazardous waste (Orubu, 2004, 208). The oil industry of Nigeria is divided into 3 major areas namely, exploitation and exploration, crude oil, Refining and products marketing and transportation. There are 4 refiners in Nigeria namely, Kaduna, Warri, Port Harcourt one and two with combined capacity of about 450,000 bpd (Cbukwudi, 2012, 4). All normal products such as Premium Motor Spirit, Liquefied Petroleum gas, Aviation Turbine Kerosene, Dual-purpose Kerosene, and Automatic Gas Oil are produced by these refineries.

Impact

At the time of exploration and production, waste is generated that include drill cutting, atmospheric emission, deck drainage, and drilling fluids. The construction, oil spills or improper waste disposal are factors that negatively impact the soil and earth (Agha, 2002, 22). Nigeria is famous for its forests, the spillage of oil can make country lose its beauty (Ekeinde, 2007, 02). Moreover there would be negative impact on the mangrove ecosystem. In the production stage, higher emissions are emitted in the air due to burning the waste gas into the burner, oil spills, and evaporation of the oil during loading and transfer. Number of issues accrued in Nigeria Delta region because of oil, water and land pollution (Eromosele, 1998, 368). Economically, it affected unemployment that ultimately affected poverty level, increased youth restiveness, and conflicts (Agha & Zagi, 2002, 20).

Current policies and Practices

Concern about environmental problems became evident in the mid twentieth century as a result of pollution caused by rapid industrial development. After issue of toxic waste faced by people in Koko Delta Region, Federal Government of Nigeria ...