Despite the Federal Government’s commitment to achieving zero flaring by 2060, gas flaring increased by 15.9 per cent year-on-year, YoY, to 187.6 million metric standard cubic feet, MSCF, in the first nine months (January – September) of 2023, from 157.8 MSCF in the corresponding period of 2022.
The flared gas was worth $656.6 million, which translates to N503.5billion at the current Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, exchange rate of N766.9/United States dollar.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, which disclosed this in its latest data, stated that the oil-producing companies responsible for the flaring would pay $375.2 million (an equivalent of N213 billion) for breaching the gas flaring laws during the period. However, the report noted that the volume of gas flared during the period was equivalent to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission, which could have been utilised to generate 18,800 gigawatts of electricity per hour.
NOSDRA lamented that despite efforts to reduce gas flaring, it has continued in Nigeria since the 1950s, releasing carbon dioxide and other gaseous substances into the atmosphere. This is even as the House of Representatives had promised to begin a probe into $2.5 billion annual loss to gas flaring.
Already, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has inaugurated an Ad hoc Committee to investigate alleged 9.05 billion dollar-revenue loss from gas flaring in the last one decade in Nigeria.
The committee was charged to get the root causes of gas flaring and make recommendations to end the menace, stating that the probe is an acknowledgment of the urgent need to understand and mitigate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of this practice.
He noted that the flared gas represents lost revenue that could have been generated through its sale or utilization, adding that official records indicate that the country loses about 2.5 billion dollars annually to gas flaring.’
However, the N’Assembly has yet to reveal the update of its findings for about two months since its inquiry on the flare debacle. Similarly, in a statement obtained by Energy Vanguard, the Chief Executive of, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, stated that the commission has already awarded 49 gas flare sites in the Niger Delta region to 42 companies for development.
The Commission noted that the winners bided for the 49 flare sites put forward during the 2022 Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme Auction process. The Commission said 300 companies had indicated interest for the sites.
He stated: “Reserve bidders’ status has also been accorded some companies for the corresponding flare sites in case the preferred bidders fail to meet the terms and conditions stipulated in the RFP.”
Source- Vanguard Newspaper.