Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has shortlisted 139 companies for the next stage of the country’s gas flare commercialisation programme.
This was disclosed by its chief executive, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, in a statement as part of plans to reduce carbon emissions.
It is coming months after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, said plans were at an advanced stage to commercialise gas burned from its oil fields to help cut 15 million tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
Giving an update, Mr Komolafe said on Tuesday that out of the 300 companies that applied, 139 had been shortlisted to proceed to the next stage of the programme.
“In consideration of Section 105 (2) of the PIA and similar provisions enabling the Commission in that respect, the Commission hereby publishes the list of Qualified Applicants who will proceed to the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase of the NGFCP 2022.
“On behalf of the Board and Management of the Commission, I heartily congratulate all successful applicants and enjoin them to follow through with the subsequent stages of the Programme towards becoming a Permit Holder/Flare Gas Buyer in line with the applicable statutes. All Qualified Applicants shall receive further communications via their respective contact addresses and the NGFCP portal (ngfcp.nuprc.gov.ng) accordingly,” he said in the statement.
He, however, did not say when the next phase would commence.
Nigeria has been trying to harness gas belching from its oil fields so it can be exported or used to generate power, but this has been affected by a lack of finance worsened by low crude oil output.
According to the latest available figures, companies operating in Nigeria’s petroleum industry flared 170.5 billion standard cubic feet (BSCF) of gas between January and October 2022.
According to the data released by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), the value of total gas flared in the 10-month period stood at $596.9 million. Using the current official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of N443/$1, this loss amounts to N264.427 billion in potential revenue to Nigeria.
This was equivalent to a carbon dioxide emission of 9.1 million tonnes and had a power generation potential of 17,100 gigawatts hour (GWh).
