N128bn Lost To Gas Flaring In Eleven Months — NNPC
Oil and gas firms operating in the country flared a total of 225.81 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas from January to November 2019.
This amounted to an estimated loss of N127.53bn.
Data obtained by our correspondent from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday showed that the volume of gas flared from in the period under review fell from 260.19 billion scf in the same period in 2018.
The firms, including international and indigenous operators, wasted 18.30 billion scf of gas in January; 21.22 billion scf in February; 24.95 billion scf in March; 24.82 billion scf in April; 19.84 billion scf in May and 18.12 billion scf in June.
They flared 20.47 billion scf in July; 21.66 billion scf in August; 19.94 billion scf in September; 17.52 billion scf in October; and 18.97 billion scf in November.
With the price of natural gas put at $1.84 per 1,000scf as of Tuesday, the 225.81 billion scf flared translates to an estimated loss of $415.49m or N127.53bn (using the official exchange rate of N306.95/dollar).
The NNPC, in its latest monthly report, said national gas production in November stood at 228.65 billion cubic feet.
The corporation said 137.02bcf of gas was commercialised, consisting of 35.29bcf and 101.73bcf for the domestic and export market respectively while the rest was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.
It said the daily average natural gas supply to gas-powered plants in November increased by 16.53 per cent to 645 million standard cubic feet per day, equivalent to power generation of 2,178 megawatts, compared to 553mmscfd in October (2,050MW).
Last week, the Department of Petroleum Resources said it had shortlisted 200 investors to bid for gas flare sites after the evaluation of statements of qualification submitted by interested companies.
The DPR said 45 gas flare sites would be put up for auction in the first phase of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme.
In October 2016, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), inaugurated the NGFCP, aimed at reducing gas flaring by harnessing flare gas to stimulate economic growth, drive investments and provide jobs in the Niger Delta through the utilisation of widely available innovative technologies.
The NGFCP was designed as the strategy to implement the policy objectives of the government for the elimination of gas flares from Nigeria’s oil and gas fields in the near term of between two and three years, with potentially enormous multiplier and development outcomes for Nigeria.
