The Federal Government lost about N843bn to gas flaring between January 2022 and August 2023, data obtained from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA has shown.
According to NOSDRA’s most recent gas flare report, oil and gas companies operating in the country burned 147.1 billion SCF of gas worth $514.9 million, or roughly N390 billion (using the Central Bank of Nigeria’s current currency rate of N757.5 to a dollar).
Again, between January and August 2023, the companies burned 171.1 billion standard cubic feet of gas for around $599 million (N453 billion).
This amounts to a total loss of around N847 billion between January and August of last year and the same time this year.
According to the report, the volume of gas flared in the eight-month period this year was 16.28 per cent higher compared with the same period in 2022.
It added that the gas flared in the first eight months of this year had the potential of generating 17,100 gigawatts/hour of electricity; while it emitted 9.1 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
In addition, it noted that the offending companies were liable for penalties of $342m, about N251bn, adding, however, that a large chunk of the penalties was never collected by the Federal Government.
In comparison, the oil spill remediation agency stated that between January and August 2022, the oil firms were liable for penalties of about $294m (N223bn) and that the gas lost had a power generation potential of 14,700 GWh of electricity, while it was equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions of 7,800 tonnes.
Some of the offending companies, according to NOSDRA include Shell Petroleum, Development Company, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Chevron Nigeria, Mobil Oil, Elf Petroleum Nigeria, Nigeria Agip Oil Company, Addax Petroleum, Texaco Overseas (Nigeria), Cromwell and South Atlantic Petroleum, among others.
These companies flared gas from Oil Mining Leases 04, 05, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 22, 28, 23, 24, 38, 40, 42, 43, 72, 49, 54, 90, 95, 67, 70, 104, 59, 99, 100, 101, 102 and Oil Prospecting Licenses 222, 316 and 306, among others.
The report comes on the heels of FG’s pledge to the United Nations in 2020, to attain zero gas flare by 2060, ten years after the UN’s 2050 target.