Nigeria Loses $1.12bn to Gas Flaring in 11 Months

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria lost $1.12 billion to gas flaring between January and November 2020 as oil and gas firms in the country flared 318.6 billion standard cubic feet (BCF) of gas within the period.

This was disclosed in a report published by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).

The federal government agency reported that the volume of gas flared by the companies was equivalent to fines valued at $637 million, about N241.4 billion, many of which it said are not collected from the oil and gas firms.

It further stated that as a result of the volume of gas flared in the 11-month period, 17 million tonnes of Carbon dioxide (CO2) was emitted into the atmosphere contributing to global warming.

It also explained that 31,900 GigaWatt hours of potential power generation went to waste as a result of the quantity of gas flared, adding that this wasted energy was equivalent to the annual electricity use of 723 million Nigerian citizens.

NOSDRA disclosed that the volume of gas flared in the 11-month period of 2020 was 31.6 per cent lower than the 466 BCF of gas flared in the country in 2019.

NOSDRA noted that in the period under consideration, gas was flared from 70 oil blocks across 180 geographical locations in the country’s oil-producing region.

It identified some of the defaulting companies and oil wells as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) from Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 212 and Oil Mining Leases (OML) 04, 05, 11, 13, 14, 17, 21 OPL, OML, 22; 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 46; 79; Mobil Producing Nigeria, from OMLs 67, 68, 70 and 104; Chevron Nigeria Limited, from OML 49, 54, 55, 90, 95; and Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited, from OPLs 105, 222; OMLs 56, 59, 99, 100, and 102.

Others gas flare defaulters in the period were Nigeria Agip Oil Company, from OPL 316, OMLs 60, 62 and 63; Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria, from OPL 209; Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), from OPL 091; Addax Petroleum, from OPLs 090, 098, 118; Moni Pulo, from OPL 230; Agip Energy and Natural Resources OPL 472; Texaco Overseas (Nigeria) Petroleum Company, from OML 86; Express Petroleum and Gas, from OML 108; Crownwell, OPL 306; Summit Oil International, OPL 205; Famfa Oil, OPL 216; and South Atlantic Petroleum International, OPL 246, among others.