Nigeria losses $22.9bn to gas flaring in nine years – NOSDRA
The introduction of a metering system and the calibration of the meters in the oil fields has significantly reduced the level of gas flaring in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry to below 7 percent, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has disclosed.
The Director of Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning at NUPRC, Babajide Fashino disclosed this during an interaction with the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Bello Shehu, in Abuja.
Fashino who was in the NUPRC delegation that visited the RMAFC recently said with the Metering system, Nigeria has been able to drastically reduce the level of gas flaring from over 40 percent to below 7 percent.
Also, he said the calibration of the Metering system has made it possible for the industry to have accurate records of gas resources produced in the country.
Nigeria, he said, was at the forefront of managing gas flaring in line with global best practices for economic growth and sustainability.
“The introduction of technologies through the installation of a metering system and the calibration of the meters has gone a long way in reducing gas flaring in Nigeria from 40 percent to a mere 7 percent,” Fashino said.
Also speaking, the Director of ICT in the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Margaret Adeshida, underscored the need for effective monetization of gas resources in the country.
Adeshida who was also a part of the visiting delegation to the Commission said the volume of gas flared in the country was more than 4.2 billion standard cubic feet.
She said this has resulted in the country losing more than $22.9 billion in revenue that could have accrued to the government between 2012 and 2021.
A breakdown of the figure, the Director explained, included the loss of $14.6 billion through gas flaring, in addition to about $8.3 billion lost in penalties that the oil and gas companies should have paid to the government.
Responding, the Chairman of RMAFC, Mohammed Bello Shehu, reiterated the need for stronger partnership and collaboration between the Commission, NUPRC and NOSDRA to boost revenue generation through effective management of the gas flaring in the country in line with global best practices.
Shehu said the partnership was not only necessary to arrest the huge losses in revenue recorded through gas flaring in the country’s oil and gas industry, but to also enhance revenue generation into the government coffers.
He said that in view of the concerted effort of the government to shore up the nation’s revenue generation capacity, the gas sector of the economy must be given adequate attention by the NUPRC and NOSDRA as the regulatory bodies saddled with the responsibility of determining the quality and quantities of gas produced in the country, alongside adherence to environmental standards for the conservation of the host communities.
The RMAFC Chairman enjoined all the relevant stakeholders in the management of gas economy in the country, including the revenue monitoring committee, to come together to work out proper strategies to harness the gas flares into economic use to enhance revenue generation into the Federation Account.
