Nigeria loses N379bn to gas flaring in 12 months

Gas flaring in Nigeria’s oil fields has taken a huge toll on the economy, and also the livelihoods of Nigerians.

Data has revealed that oil and gas companies flared 260.3 billion standard cubic feet of gas (SCF) between January and December 2021.

The monetary value of burnt gas in the international market is worth over N379.4 billion.

This wastage is coming against the backdrop of dwindling oil revenue and increasing debt and continuous epileptic power supply in the country.

These figures were released on Tuesday by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).

According to the agency, the amount lost to gas flaring in 2021 is 24.1 per cent lower than the $1.2 billion lost to the activity in 2020 but the impact remains enormous.

It noted that the volume flared in 2021 was 260.3 billion SCF, 26.4 per cent lower than the 353.6 billion SCF flared by the oil companies in 2020.

Ripples Nigeria understands that the oil companies responsible for the gas flares are expected to pay fines totalling $520.6 million, an equivalent of N216.77 billion, but no information in the report indicated they have paid any fine for the previous gas flares amounting to several billions of U.S. dollars.

The previous year the penalties for the oil companies were $707.2 million, an equivalent of N294.47 billion.

Giving further insight on the Nigerian losses, NOSDRA disclosed that the volume of gas flared in 2021 was equivalent to a carbon dioxide (CO2) emission of 13.8 million tonnes and also capable of generating 26,000 gigawatts hour of electricity, equivalent to the annual electricity use of 591 million people.

Read also: Nigerian govt says gas flaring drops by 92%

On the breakdown of the volume of gas flared in the period under review, the report stated that oil and gas companies operating onshore flared 135 billion SCF of gas valued at $472.6 million (N196.79 billion); with penalties payable of $270.1 million (N112.47 billion).

The flared gas is a CO2 emission equivalent of 7.2 million tonnes with a power generation potential of 13,500 gigawatts per hour of electricity.

On the other hand, companies operating at offshore locations flared 125.3 billion SCF of gas in 2021, valued at $438.4 million (N182.55 billion); penalties payable of $250.5 million (N104.31 billion).

The power generation potential of the loss is 12,500 gigawatts per hour of electricity and CO2 emission equivalent of 6.7 million tonnes.

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