In a bid to end gas flaring and save revenues in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon exploration industry, the Federal government has announced the launch of a Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme Team.
The 12-member committee was inaugurated by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), on Sunday, according to NAN.
Chief Executive Engineer, Mr Gbenga Komolafe said the FG is committed to eradicating gas flaring due to its adverse effects on the environment and people.
What the NUPRC is saying
The NUPRC in a statement said that monetising gas resources was a positive step towards guaranteeing energy security, especially in the global energy transition period.
Komolafe, said, ”Gas flaring in the industry had continued to be a menace which needs to be eradicated because of its adverse effects on the environment and people.”
He added that the wasteful disposal of natural gas is not only fraught with serious health/environmental consequences but is also a major resource waste and value erosion to the country.
He further stated that FG declared the period 2021 to 2030 as the “Decade of Gas”, a period within which the nation must shift focus from oil-centred exploitation to gas-driven industrial development.
“Even though the World Bank has set 2030 as the target year to end gas flaring, Nigeria has set the country’s deadline for 2025.
“President Muhammadu Buhari made a commitment towards the Paris Agreement during the COP26 Leaders’ Summit to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2060,” he said.
He stated the 2016 Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) to end flaring fizzled out due to unforeseen constraints which truncated its execution, urging that Nigeria must ensure that it harnessed all available gas resources for value creation.
Komolafe stated that the commission was carrying out a study in conjunction with external technical resources to identify suitable flare sites for the auction process and also drive the process as well as coordinate the implementation of the programme.
What you should know
- The World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) in its 2022 global gas flaring tracker report ranked Nigeria as the 7th largest gas flaring country globally in 2021.
- The Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor, an arm of the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, said oil and gas companies in the country flared 126billion standard cubic feet (SCF) of gas in the first half of the year (H1 2022).
- This resulted in 6.7million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and an equivalent amount of US$441.2million lost, compared with 136.6bn standard cubic feet of gas which resulted in 7.3million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and an equivalent amount of US$478.1m lost in H1 2021.
- For the full year 2021, the country flared 255.2billion standard cubic feet of gas, resulting in 13.6million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions with an equivalent amount of US$893.1million lost.
