Gas flaring in Nigeria to end 2030 – NUPRC
Adebayo Obajemu
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, has said that intermittent, routine gas flaring in the Nigerian oil and gas operations will come to an end in 2030.
Komolafe, who made this known at the 8th Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference in Lagos, said several efforts were ongoing in the sector that will quarantee total eradication of all gas flares in a couple of years.
According to him : “national drive (is) to achieve the zero-flare target by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2060”, stressing that NUPRC was effectively spearheading the drive to attain the target.
He also talked about the Nigeria Gas-Flare Commercialisation Programme, adding that it was one of the initiatives through which the target would be realized.
For decades, gas flaring has continued to be a sore point , a recurring decimal in Nigeria even after several efforts to stem the tide of carbon emissions oozing from various sources, including gas flaring.
Recall that the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, in a report said that oil and gas companies operating in the country flared 275.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas in 2023, leading the country to a loss of a whopping $1 billion, an equivalent of N891 billion, and with damaging effects on the environment through carbon dioxide emissions.
In its gas flare report for 2023, NOSDRA disclosed that the volume of gas flared in 2023 was 27.03 per cent higher than the volume flared in 2022.
According to the environmental watchdog, 224.9 billion SCF, BSCF, of gas was flared by the companies in 2022, valued at $787.2, an equivalent of N701.395 billion, using Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, exchange rate of N891 to a dollar.
NOSDRA noted that the 275.2 billion SCF of gas flared in 2023 emitted 14.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; has power generation potential of 27,500 gigawatts hours, GWh, while the offending companies were liable for penalties of $550.4 million, an equivalent of N490.406 billion.
In its gas flare report for the period, NOSDRA disclosed that the volume of gas flared in 2023 was 27.03 per cent higher than the volume flared in 2022.
According to the environmental watchdog, 224.9 billion SCF, BSCF, of gas was flared by the companies in 2022, valued at $787.2, an equivalent of N701.395 billion, using Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, exchange rate of N891 to a dollar.
It listed the major gas flaring offending companies to include Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC; Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC; Chevron Nigeria; Mobil Oil; Elf Petroleum Nigeria; Nigeria Agip Oil Company, NAOC; Addax Petroleum; Texaco Overseas (Nigeria), Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria; Allied Energy Resources; Ultramar Petroleum; Atlas Petroleum; Cromwell and South Atlantic Petroleum, among others.
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