21 May 2014, Lagos – Royal Dutch Shell said, Tuesday, that the Nigerian government was frustrating its efforts at ending gas flaring in Nigeria.
Speaking at its annual general meeting in The Hague, Mr. Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive of the company, told investors that a shortfall in funding from its partner in the venture, the Federal Government owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is hindering efforts to cut flaring in the country.
Also, in its Annual Sustainability Report presented to investors, Shell disclosed that the total volume of gas flared in 2013 dropped by 23 percent compared with 2012.
It, however, added that the drop in gas flared was not as a result of any intervention but due a decline in its crude oil production.
Shell had in 2012 said that it planned to invest $4 billion on oil and gas projects, including gas gathering facilities to avoid flaring, a development that had been frustrated by the failure of the government to back up its effort by providing funding for the project.
Despite the challenges it is facing in ending gas flaring in Nigeria, Beurden said the oil company will hold on to its refining business, irrespective of its plans to sell off most of its underperforming downstream assets.
