Contrary to hypes by the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Government lost about N843bn to gas flaring between January 2022 and August 2023, data obtained from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has shown.
NGFCP, under the leadership of Justice Derefaka, erstwhile Adviser on Gas to the former Minister of State, Timipre Sylva had been piloting the drive to commacialise gas flare all of a sudden the scheme become motionless till today in the ministry.
NOSDRA, in its latest gas flare report, disclosed that oil and gas companies operating in the country, between January and August 2022, flared 147.1 billion SCF of gas, valued at $514.9m, about N390bn (using Central Bank of Nigeria’s current exchange rate of N757.5 to a dollar). Again, the firms, between January and August 2023, flared 171.1 billion standard cubic feet of gas valued at about $599m (N453bn).
This gives a total of about N847bn lost between January and August last year and the same period this year. According to the report, the volume of gas flared in the eight-month period this year was 16.28 per cent higher compared with the same period in 2022.
It added that the gas flared in the first eight months of this year had the potential of generating 17,100 gigawatts/hour of electricity; while it emitted 9.1 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In addition, it noted that the offending companies were liable for penalties of $342m, about N251bn, adding, however, that a large chunk of the penalties was never collected by the Federal Government.
