By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria lost N137.53 billion or $330.6 million to gas flaring in four months, as oil and gas firms operating in the onshore and offshore oil fields of the country flared 94.5 billion standard cubic feet (SCF) of gas between January and April 2022.
According to the latest gas flare data released by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), the quantity of gas flared was capable of generating 9,400 gigawatts hours of electricity and equivalent to carbon dioxide emission of 5.0 million metric tonnes.
It also added that the defaulting companies are to pay $188.9 million or N78.58 billion in penalties, noting, however, that in most or all of the cases, the penalties are never collected by the government as the companies fail to comply.
A breakdown of the total gas flared on a monthly basis showed that 29.97 billion SCF and 27.12 billion SCF of the commodity were flared in January and February 2022 respectively, while in March and April, 16.49 billion SCF and 20.88 billion SCF of gas was flared respectively.
NOSDRA stated that companies operating offshore flared 49.7 billion SCF of gas in the four months period, valued at $174 million, an equivalent of N72.38 billion.
The amount of gas flared onshore led to carbon dioxide emissions of 2.6 million tonnes; have power generation potential of 5,000 gigawatts hours of electricity; while the companies were expected to pay penalties of $99.4 million, about N41.35 billion.
Giving a breakdown of the volume of gas flared onshore, NOSDRA reported that in January 2022, 19.14 billion SCF was flared, while in February, March and April, 14.03 billion SCF, 10.49 billion SCF and 6,.05 billion SCF were flared respectively.
On the other hand, companies operating offshore cost Nigeria $156.6 million, about N65.15 billion, as they flared 44.7 billion SCF of gas; emitting 2.54 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; with power generation potential of 4,500 gigawatts hours and penalties payable of $89.5 million, about N37.23 billion.
Also, it stated that in January and February 2022, offshore oil and gas firms flared 10.83 billion SCF of gas and 13.09 billion SCF respectively, while in March and April, 6.003 billion SCF and 14.82 billion SCF were flared respectively.
Commenting on the rate of flaring in Nigeria, NOSDRA said: “Flared gas could be harnessed to provide power and electricity, which Nigeria faces an acute shortage of. This could be done at a local scale, or by feeding into Nigeria’s national grid.
“However, this is in a bad state of repair, and a combination of infrastructure, regulation and investment is required to encourage gas-to-power initiatives that could help address Nigeria’s power challenges.”
