Yemisi Izuora/Hyacinth Chinweuba
A new study by Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) indicates that Nigeria flares about 1.2billion cubic feet (bcf/d) of gas a day, a volume that is capable to fuel about; 7000MW of efficient thermal electric power and over 1,400 agro processing facilities.
That quantity also can boost 350 textile plants as well as 70 fertilizer plants with opportunities for creating over one million jobs.
The study also said that this amount of gas flare represents 12.5per cent of all globally flared gas, which is 68 percent of the associated gas produced or 51 per cent of the total gas production and therefore called for the recovery of the $4.1billion gas flare outstanding penalty from oil firms, identified by the Nuhu Ribadu led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force.
According to the document – Issues in Implementing the Nigerian Gas Master plan authored by CSJ Lead Director, Eze Onyekepere and Ikenna Ofoegbu, supported by Heinrich Boll Stiftung, Nigeria lost about $1billion in 2014 as oil companies operating in the country flared a large proportion of the gas produced within the period. According to data from the NNPC, about 295 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas was flared in the nine-month period. International oil companies and indigenous players burnt a total of 43.7billion scf in January, 50.1 billion scf in February and 38.3 billion scf in March.