Last week, stakeholders and regulators in the oil and gas came together in Abuja to assess the journey so far in Nigeria’s quest to end gas flaring. The forum had the theme, “gas flare reduction: catalyst for accelerating Nigeria’s path to net-zero emissions and sustainable odevelopment.”
The event which is the 3rd National Extractives Dialogue 2024 (NED2024) provided an opportunity to the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to hand down perhaps one its strongest policy declarations: that Nigeria must take decisive action on gas flaring, now.
Director General of NOSDRA, Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke, said the theme is apt because the same gas that is needed in the industry to support the NLNG and other gas initiatives is being flared wastefully into the atmosphere causing damage instead of creating wealth for the people. Said he: “Today, we are not simply discussing an environmental issue; we are confronting a fundamental challenge that profoundly impacts our national development and our global commitments.
“The persistent practice of gas flaring has marred the breathtaking landscape of Nigeria’s abundant natural resources. It serves as a symbol of the missed prospects for harnessing energy, fostering economic growth, and preserving the environment. The well-documented environmental and health ramifications of gas flaring have far-reaching effects, deteriorating air quality, and public health while also aggravating the global climate crisis. Nevertheless, amidst this seemingly insurmountable challenge lies a remarkable opportunity for groundbreaking innovation, meaningful collaboration, and tangible progress.”
He added that ending gas flare in Nigeria is in line with global climate change mitigation efforts and the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as well as his government’s commitment to end gas flaring, reduce methane emissions, and enhance environmental sustainability in the country.
On his part, the Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako, warned IOCS to desist from disregarding gas flare directives of regulatory agencies in Nigeria. He pointed out that though a few IOCs often complied with these directives, most of the oil firms were not complying, stressing that this would not be tolerated.
Gas flare with its attendant methane emission pushes Nigeria to 39th in global pollution rating with China topping the chart with its over 14 billion tons of carbon dioxide (Co2) and Mexico the 10th with less than one billion. These contribute to greenhouse effects and global warming that have caused upheavals in nature such as meting of ice into oceans and change in seasons, bush fires especially in the US, flooding around the world, and much more.
On the flip side, Nigeria loses billions of Naira and megawatts of electricity that could have been used for economic development, especially provision of electricity to help boost the country’s epileptic power supply.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that Nigeria loses about N1.1 billion to unpaid gas flare penalties and 566.8M scf to gas flaring between March 2020 and February 2024. Furthermore, Nigerians spend huge amounts on cooking gas at an average current price of N1200/kg at retail distribution points.
While the submissions by Dr. Salako and Engr. Woke is welcomed, NatureNews believes it is time for the federal government and the relevant agencies to match statements with action. The federal government must exercise its political will to implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as regards ending gas flare and collecting fines from gas flaring companies.
We call on the federal government to adequately fund NODSRA so as to insulate it from greek gifts from industry players including the sponsorship of joint investigation visits (JIVs), and other joint activities that are capable of compromising its field reports.
