…Nigeria loses N149bn in revenue
Ike Amos 06 January 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Using the Nigerian Gas Company’s average natural gas price of $3 per 1,000 cubic feet of gas, Nigeria lost about $746.37 million, an equivalent of N149.27 billion to gas flaring in 11 months, between January and November 2015.
The loss arose from the activities of oil and gas companies in the country, which flared 248.79 billion cubic feet, BCF, of gas within the period.
The amount of gas flared, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in its Monthly Financial and Operations Report for November 2015, represented 9.37 per cent of the total gas production of 2.656 trillion cubic feet, TCF, of gas.
This was in spite the challenges and dangers posed by global warming and international efforts at putting an end to gas flaring. The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and the NNPC had over the years paid lip service to the issue of gas flaring, while sanctions meted out to defaulting companies had been seen by stakeholders as merely a slap on the wrist.
The report stated that total commercialised gas stood at 1.496TCF, while 1.134 TCF of gas was not commercialised.
In the commercialised gas segment, according to the report, total gas supply for the period January to November 2015 stands at 346.28 BCF and 1.149 trillion cubic feet for the domestic and export market respectively.
The report stated that, “For the period January to November 2015, a total of 2.656 TCF of gas was produced representing an average daily production of 7.951 billion standard cubic feet per day (scfd) during the period.
“Production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) and NPDC contributed about 69.89%, 21.88% and 8.22% respectively to the total national gas production.”