THE DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES (DPR) AND ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN THE NIGERIAN OIL INDUSTRY, 2008-2013

This study investigates the activities of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the enforcement of environmental regulations in the Nigerian oil industry. Specifically, the study examined the effect of the overlap of regulatory and revenue functions of the DPR on compliance to standard environmental regulations. The Marxist Structuralist theory of the state was used as our framework of analysis and the study found that the statutory responsibility of the DPR in managing both revenue and regulatory functions result in a conflict of interest in the discharge of its duties, and a bias towards revenue-related concerns. This undermined compliance to the regulations guiding oil-related activities in the Nigerian petroleum industry. Accordingly, the implication of the study is that the DPR is an institution of the Nigerian state that serves the long term interest of capitalism by preserving the dominance of foreign oil capital in the economy. Thus, environmental regulations as stipulated by the DPR are effective, in so far as they do not threaten or undermine the oil revenue base of the Federal Government. The study recommended the need to place the DPR under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment and refrain it from revenue functions; the need to review upward, the penal fines for violators of regulations to ensure deterrence; and finally, the need for an independent regulator to certify that the facilities o