*Govt commences verification for over 700 firms
OpeOluwani Akintayo
01 March 2019, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Nigeria flares about 22 million tonnes of gas worth N153 billion yearly, SweetcrudeReports can report.
In a statement by the Programme Manager, Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme in the federal ministry of petroleum, Mr. Justice Derefaka, the country loses N153 billion yearly for the 22 million tonnes of gas flared by oil companies in Nigeria.
He explained that the gas could be put to use if harnessed, to power two to three LNG trains, and generate about 3000 megawatts of electricity.
He said over 700 firms have already registered on the NGFCP portal, to bid for the 178 gas flare sites across the country, adding that the process billed to attract over $3.5 billion when commercialized, is already at the verification stage.
This he said, is in tandem with federal government’s gas flare commercialization target of 2020.
“For the 22 million tonnes CO2 we emit, we lose appropriately $500million emission credit value,” he said.