Nigeria loses N34.1bn as oil firms flare 12.7 mscf

DESPITE Nigeria’s dwindling revenue, oil and gas companies operating in the country flared 12.7 million standard cubic feet (mscf) of gas in July 2023, according to the latest data from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).

This represents a 35 percent increase when compared to 9.4 mscf of gas flared in the corresponding period of 2022.

NOSDRA put the value of the 12.7 MSCF flared in July 2023 at $44.3 million, adding that going by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) current official exchange rate of N768.77/$, this translates to a loss of N34.1 billion potential revenue.

NOSDRA also stated that the defaulting companies were liable to fines totaling $25.3 million, an equivalent of N19.4 billion.

According to NOSDRA, the volume of gas flared during the period under review was equivalent to carbon dioxide emission of 673.1 thousand tonnes; and had a power generation potential of 1,300 gigawatts hour (GWh).

Giving a further breakdown of the volume of gas flared across oilfields, NOSDRA reported that companies operating offshore flared 5.1 mscf while companies operating onshore flared 7.6 mscf.

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.

However, the Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, said that the nation’s Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, has adequate provisions to end flaring.

Speaking to Vanguard, Komolafe said: “The PIA has proscribed gas flaring. There is a high penalty against flaring and NUPRC is unsparing. Besides, the winners of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, NGFCP, would work toward ending the gas flaring.”