As the age-long battles over gas flaring in Nigeria’s oil industry seem intractable, a total of $1 billion, about N379 billion, has been recorded as the cumulative value of gas lost to the recorded incidents in 10 months of this year.
The industry data available to Energy Vanguard shows that oil and gas firms operating in the country flared 286.8 billion standard cubic feet, SCF, of gas between January and October 2020.
However, according to gas flare data obtained from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, the volume of gas flared in the 10-month period was 23.84 per cent lower than the 376.6 billion SCF, BCF, of gas valued at $1.3 billion, about N492.7 billion, flared in the same period in 2019. The NOSDRA report added that the volume of gas flared from January to October 2020 attracted penalties of $573.5 million, about N217.36 billion.
It noted that the flared gas was equivalent to 15.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, C02, emissions and capable of generating 28,700 gigawatts per hour, GWH, of electricity. In comparison, the volume of gas flared from January to October 2019 attracted penalties of $753.2 million, about N285.46 billion. According to the report, the flares are equivalent to carbon dioxide emission of 20 million tonnes capable of generating 37,700 GWH of electricity.
The onshore and offshore breakdown of the flaring, according to the report, show that companies operating onshore accounted for 57.78 per cent of total gas flared in the first ten months of 2020, with 165.7 BCF of gas valued at $580.1 million or N219.86 billion. The penalties payable by the companies operating onshore stood at $331.5 million, about N125.64 billion, while it has power generation potential of 16,600 GWH and is equivalent to 8.8 million tonnes of C02 emissions. .
