Nigeria Flares N99bn Gas In Six Months

Nigeria has, in the six moths, flared 222.8million Standard
Cubic Feet (MSCF) of gas estimated to have accrued about N99 billion if
processed and exported to the nation.

According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) quarterly petroleum information bulletin, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil and Shell
accounted for 67 per cent of the total flare in the first half of 2012.

Using the present international price of $2.83 benchmark,
the flared gas during the review period is a equivalent to N67 billion ($424),
it noted.

Chevron led the list, having flared 59.7 mscf out of 130.2
mscf produced while Exxon-Mobil flared 56.6 mscf out of 212.9 mscf which are
equivalent to N27 billion ($169 million) and N25 billion ($160 million)
respectively.

Shell’s flare was relatively low when compared to the 414.3
mscf it produced as it flared 33.9 mscf during the period. The flare is
equivalent to N15 billion. ($96 million).

In another development, the Environmental Right Action and
Friends of the Earth, an NGO, has attributed the incessant flooding in Nigeria
partly to gas flaring by oil companies.

Mr Chima Williams, the Head of Legal Resources of the
organisation, said in Benin that there was the need for climate experts and
government agencies to find lasting solutions to the problems of oil spillage
and gas faring in the Niger Delta.

Williams said oil companies operating in the region should
be held accountable.

“It is on record that Nigeria flares more gas, associated
with oil extraction, than any other countries thereby cooking the skies through
gas flaring.

“This continuous flaring has contributed immensely to the
climate change issues by releasing carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide, among
others, into the atmosphere,’’ he said.

Williams explained that the climate change had negatively
affected many communities, disrupting the environment and the economy through
flooding.

“Although government, the international community and the
oil companies have agreed to stop gas faring, government lacks the political
will to do so,’’ he said.

According to him, gas flaring endangers human health, harms
local ecosystems, and destroys plants and animals, food production and water
among others.

“From pronouncements on climate change, coming from
government agencies, it is obvious that government cannot plead ignorance of
the massive contribution of gas flaring to global warming.

“After years of paying lip service, government must take
urgent actions to protect the lives of its citizens and rescue the nation from
the menace caused by oil companies.

“It is not enough to set up committees to look at the
flooding problems but efforts should be directed at solving the problem of gas
flaring holistically,’’ he said.

Williams said gas flaring had caused untold hardship to host
communities, and called on the National Assembly to do more to stop the
flaring.

He urged the government to review the nation’s environmental
policies, which he said, had become obsolete.

Vivian-Peace Nwinaene