Sustainability of the Petroleum Industry

Abstract This study examines the sustainability of the petroleum industry. It is focused on the impact of the industry in developing countries. Petroleum is among the various sources of energy that is synonymous with economic growth and prosperity of nations. Despite these benefits, the exploitation and production of petroleum resources in developing countries have called for global concern because of environmental impact among which are air/land/water pollution, deforestation, emission of greenhouse and loss of biodiversity. Sustainable development and environmental protection were hardly the main interests of the principal actors. In either case the underlying objectives of the principal actors, can be summed up essentially as the maximization of their respective investments at the least possible risk. The study adopted a qualitative method, Using literature review in the interpretative research paradigm. Data were collected from secondary sources, arranged into themes and were analyzed for content. The study uses existing secondary data or empirical evidence from different countries to present issues especially in the literature review part. The finding reveals some sustainability strategies for the petroleum industry. The sustainability strategies include collaboration/international cooperation, energy efficiency, fiscal incentives, use of alternative energy source, downstream sector development and provision of storage facilities. it was observed that adopting the sustainability strategies will reduce the intensive and extensive use of petroleum and consequently reduce the negative impact of the petroleum industry. Adopting sustainability's principles or strategies will reduce the negative impact of petroleum exploitation and production. It is recommended that the government should provide an enabling environment for these strategies to be effective.