An estimated $1bn natural gas, that would have powered a million households was wasted in Nigeria in the year 2023.
According to some findings by Businessday, Nigeria Gas Flare Tracker, a satellite-based technology, created by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), gathered that about 275.2 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, was flared in Nigeria from January to December last year.
Nigeria lost $22.9 billion to gas flaring in 10 years, from 2011 to 2021, according to NOSDRA.
An official statement by TCN last week, attributed the country’s constant power outage to ‘gas constraints’ to thermal generating companies. According to findings, the gas flared in the period has the potential to generate 1.13 million megawatts (1,125 gigawatts) of power for the country.
NJ Ayuk, chairman of African Energy Chamber (AEC), said, “The gas that is being flared in Nigeria in a year could power at least 40 to 50 percent of the entire African continent that doesn’t have electricity right now.”
Ayuk stressed the need to stop the gas flaring, and turn it to electricity to make the life of Nigerian people better. Experts on their part, stressed the need for gas commercialisation, proper gas regulation, the development of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG), and an amendment of the Petroleum Industry Act.
“The optimal strategy would be a practical push for gas commercialisation, supported by a robust infrastructure network. A portion of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumed locally is imported, although the exact percentage is uncertain,” Preye David Orodu, lead engineer at KEOT Synergy, said.
In July last year, the House of Representatives vowed to recover the sum of over $9 billion in gas flaring fines imposed by the Federal Government on erring local and foreign companies operating in the oil and gas industry.
Kelvin Emmanuel, an energy sector expert and co-founder/CEO at Dairy Hills, recommended the development of FLNG vessels to reduce the incidence of vandalisation that happens from hot pressure tapping as well as enable the easy offtake of associated gas from well-heads.
