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Monday, January 25, 2016
The Nigerian government has set a target of 2020 to end all gas flaring in the country. The target was set when Group GM of Nigerian Petroleum Investment and Management Services (NAPIMS), DafeSajebor and Sadler Mai-Bornu, MD of NPDC appeared before a Senate panel investigating the activities of oil and gas agencies in the country.
In 2007 the government pegged 2008 as the year it would end flaring in its oil operations, with the previous target coming and going almost eight years ago, flaring has actually increased according to the committee. The government was called to task by the panel, who laid the blame at the government’s feet for the increase in flaring, saying that its inability to enforce payment of stipulated penalties on operators was the main reason for the rise in gas flaring.
The committee plans to audit all the state agencies involved in the sector. Chairman of the Committee, Senator Albert Akpan said “From here, we will know also who approves projects and how are the projects monitored and the mechanism for cost recovery and monitoring of the projects. Give us the submission of the gas that you have flared and each of your operators involved. The quality of gas flared, the operators, the terminal and the related penalties paid.”
While the government may not have been enforcing penalties there are other reasons that eight years down the road flaring still exists in Nigeria and has grown, infrastructure. Despite holding the eighth largest natural gas reserves in the world (according to the EIA) Nigeria’s natural gas sector is restricted by the lack of infrastructure to monetize natural gas that is currently flared. That is not to say that the country is not monetizing this resource, Nigeria also happens to be among the world’s top five exporters of LNG with more LNG projects as well as other gas monetization projects on the drawing board; however the thing that country has lacked over the past eight years is progress in pushing these projects forward.
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