$9bn gas flare revenue loss: Reps. Committee summons Total, Ardova, African Petroleum, Folawiyo, NERC others 

Oredola Adeola

The House of Representatives has set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate an alleged $9.05 billion revenue loss from gas flaring in Nigeria over the last decade and has invited Total Energies, African Petroleum (AP) Pic, Ardova PLC, Azman Oil and Gas Limited, Matrix Oil And Gas Shata Ltd, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and several companies and organizations including to appear before or on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Representative, made this known at the inauguration of the House ad hoc committee on Gas Flaring on Monday, charging the committee to get the root causes of gas flaring and make recommendations to end the menace.

He said that the probe is an acknowledgment of the urgent need to understand and mitigate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of this practice.

The Speaker said, “The task before this adhoc committee is a very critical one that lies at the heart of the health of our people and the economic well-being of our nation.

“You have been charged with the responsibility of investigating, perhaps, one of the most harmful practices in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

“Gas flaring and venting has been a significant environmental, economic, health and social concern in our country for many years.

“The flared gas represents lost revenue that could have been generated through its sale or utilization. Official records indicate that we lose about 2.5 billion dollars annually to gas flaring,” he said.

He said that as a major contributor to climate change and environmental degradation, gas flaring has direct and indirect impacts on soil, water, and wildlife.

According to him, gas flaring represents a tremendous waste of valuable resources; it is a precious energy source that could be utilised for various purposes, such as electricity generation, heating, or industrial processes.

Hon. Babba Munir, Chairman of the committee, said that the issue of gas flaring had lingered for decades despite several undertakings by oil companies to stop it.

He said, “We are here to give everyone a fair hearing, to know where the loopholes are, where we need to tweak our laws to ensure we get optimal results.

“We do not have to revisit how important it is to our revenue drive needed for infrastructure, security, education, and health.

“It is a win-win situation for even the oil companies because if revenues are generated, it was spent on securing our nation, on infrastructure that will better their operations.

“We are insisting and putting our feet down that all agencies of government and oil companies.

“Once you are invited, we expect you to come with your full submissions and with the highest representation of your organisation,” he said.

The committee invited Total/Mobil V Domestic wing, Total/Oando JV, Total Energies, African Petroleum (AP) Pic. and Ardova PLC to appear before or on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Others are Azman Oil and Gas Limited, Matrix Oil And Gas Shata Ltd, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

Also to appear are Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company (Aje Oil Field-Offshore), Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy (SEEPCO), Belemaoil Producing Limited.

Walter Smith Petroman Oil Limited, Green Energy International Limited, Millenium of and Gas Company Limited, Folawiyo Energy Eroton Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited and Niger Delta Petroleum Resources LTD.

The Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had in an earlier report disclosed that Nigeria lost N891bn to gas flaring in 18 months.

A data from NOSDRA published on Aug. 8, 2022 revealed that Nigeria lost a total of N707bn in 2021 and N184bn in the first half of 2022, totaling N891bn.

According to the NOSDRA report, oil and gas companies operating in the country flared a total of 126 billion standard cubic feet, SCF, of gas in the first half of 2022, leading to a loss of $441.2 million, (about N183.54 bn) in the six-month period.

On the other hand, the agency said, in 2021, about 23,862.271 barrels of oil (3,770,238.864 litres/119 tanker trucks) were spilled.

Giving a breakdown of the gas flared in the country in the first six months of 2022, the agency disclosed that while companies operating in the offshore oilfields flared 62.2 billion SCF of gas, companies operating onshore flared 63.9 billion SCF of gas, valued at $223.6 million.

In 2021, there were around 382 publicly available oil spill records. Out of the 382 occurrences, a total of 33 of these oil spill sites were not visited by a joint investigation team, and 122 of these had no estimated quantity of oil spilled provided by the companies involved.

Two major oil spills were recorded in 2021, with over 250 barrels spilled into inland waters, or over 2,500 barrels spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea, the report said.

A total of seven medium oil spills incidents were recorded in 2021, with 25-250 barrels spilled into inland waters, or 250-2,500 barrels spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea.

About 239 cases of  minor oil spillage were recorded as up to 25 barrels spilled into inland waters, or 250 barrels on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea.