By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Chairman of the joint committee of the House of Representatives on Gas Resources, Environment and Climate Change Committees, Mutu Nicholas, has revealed that Nigeria was losing over $750 million annually from flared gas.
Nicholas stated this on Monday while giving his remarks during a public hearing on the theme “Need to End Gas Flaring in Nigeria and Harness Associated Gas in Nigeria” organized by the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Gas Resources, Environment and Climate Change in Abuja.
He said: ‘Gas flare is a malady that we must work together to eliminate at the shortest time possible; because of its all round adverse effects on the environment and socio-economic well-being of the people of Niger Delta.
‘’ At current estimates by Price waterhouse Coopers, PwC, Nigeria loses over $750 million in annual revenue from flared gas.
‘’Zero-Flare Gas deadlines have routinely shifted to future dates. We thus commend government for the 2018 gas flare regulation which imposes the penalty of $2.00 per million standard cubic feet of gas flared.”
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who was represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Onofiok Luke, also noted that the 9th House was committed to changing the narratives despite said many unfruitful conversations about achieving the objective.
He said, “Last year, the House of Representatives heard and debated a motion on the “Need To End Gas Flaring In Nigeria And Harness Associated Gas Resources.”
“We have gathered here today (yesterday) to fulfill the resolutions reached that day, including the charge to investigate the level of devastation caused by gas flaring and the level of regulatory compliance by multinationals in the petroleum upstream sector.
“The conversation about gas flaring in Nigeria has been going on for a long time. Unfortunately, those conversations have not yielded the desired results. We have not managed to end the environmental damage that results from gas flaring, and we are still deprived of the economic benefits of full utilisation of gas resources in our country.
“In this 9th House of Representatives, we intend to do everything we can to change this narrative. We will convene stakeholders to deliberate and resolve the policy disagreements and other issues that have mitigated against the effective utilisation of gas resources.
“Following that, we will take legislative action through bills and oversight to achieve the ambitions we hold in this regard.”
According to Vanguard, the hearing was organised to indicate Nigeria’s interest to join the global community in achieving complete elimination of gas flaring in 2025.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Silva also present at the hearing, noted that gas flaring had been reduced to eight per cent in the country at present, adding that by 2025, it would be completely eliminated.
He said: “The issue of gas flaring is something that the Ministry takes very seriously. There is a global consensus on the elimination of gas flaring by 2025. Today, we have reduced the issue of gas flaring to a minimum eight per cent.
“We believe, with all the programmes lined up, we are on course to achieve complete elimination of gas flaring by 2025. We take the issue of gas flaring in the ministry very seriously.”
