In ten years, the projected loss to the federal government from natural gas flaring has been $16 trillion. The amount was lost between 2012 and 2022, according to the Energy Institute’s 72nd edition of the “Statistical Review of World Energy 2023.”
According to a breakdown of the data, the nation’s upstream and downstream oil and gas companies flared the most gas in 2012. It was projected that they did so at a rate of 12.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2012, 9.2 billion in 2013, 8.3 billion in 2014, and 7.5 billion in 2015.
As the year went on, the flare continued to diminish, spiking 7.2 billion cubic meters in 2016. Once more, flaring increased to 7.5 billion cubic meters in 2017 but fell to 7.3 billion cubic meters in 2018, and then rose to 7.8 billion cubic metres in 2019.
The threat reduced dramatically to 7 billion cubic meters in 2020, then to 6.5 billion cubic meters in 2021, and finally to 5.3 billion cubic meters in 2022, when it finally stopped. The projected amount of gas flared by the nation over the 10 years under consideration is 86.5 billion cubic meters.
A billion cubic meters of natural gas are estimated to be worth $183 million, according to Hebrew Energy, meaning that $16 trillion was lost to the threat during the period under consideration.
In 2020, the government, represented by former President Muhammadu Buhari, committed to supporting the UN’s 2050 zero gas emission program. But according to Buhari, Nigeria would completely stop emitting gas by 2060 at the latest.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission announced in October that 42 companies have been awarded gas flaring licenses by FG in the 2022 Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Program auction process, in keeping with the initiative to stop gas emissions.
According to the Commission, four of the firms have been granted nine flare sites to be developed as clusters, while 38 of the companies have been granted 40 flare sites for development as freestanding single flare sites.
According to NOSDRA, oil firms might face fines of up to $25.3 million in July as a penalty for gas flaring. At the current official currency rate of N768.77/$, this translates to an equivalent of N19.4 billion.
Chief Executive, the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Petroleum Commission, Engr Gbenga Komolafe, said, “The wasteful disposal of natural gas is not only fraught with deleterious health/ environmental consequences but also a major source of resource waste and value erosion to the country.”
According to him, the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme will attract investments, and develop a transparent market mechanism through a competitive procurement process for allocating gas flares, under clear and transparent criteria to competent third-party investors using proven technologies in commercial applications globally.
