Sufuyan Ojeifo
25 November 2008
Abuja — From the country's No. 3 man came a rare confession yesterday: that the Federal Government lacks the will to put a stop to gas flaring by multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria.
Senate President David Mark admitted this fact on a day the Senate Committee on Gas summoned all the multinationals to appear before it today to present their timetable on gas flare-out.
Nigeria is currently the world's second worst culprit in gas flaring after Russia with 2.5 billion cubic feet - the equivalent of 2.2 million barrels of oil flared - per day. The country loses $2 billion annually to gas flaring.
Under the subsisting gas flaring policy, which took effect from January 1, 2008, companies are required to pay a fine of $3.5 for every 1000 standard cubic feet of gas flared. This is in addition to the shutting down of any oil field where associated gas is flared after December 31, 2008. The penalty for this waste is N10 for 1,000 standard cubic feet of gas flared.
Mark said gas flaring had continued in the country in spite of its grave consequences on the health of the people and the environment due to the inability of government to stop the oil companies from gas flaring.
He spoke while declaring open the two-day public hearing on gas flaring bill organised by the Senate Committee on Gas under the chairmanship of Senator Osita Izunaso, in Senate Hearing Room One.
Mark said that gas flaring was still being carried out in Nigeria because oil companies were more comfortable with violating the various laws in place because of the penalties for defaulters which were not stiff.
According to him, "I am told that gas flaring is the largest contributor of green house gas to the atmosphere in sub-Saharan Africa; and we know the effect.
"I have been to so many places in the oil-producing areas and you really could pity the communities that live in that place because of the effects that goes on.
"Not that government has not been able to do anything about it, there has been government policies starting from Decree No. 99 of 1979, which was amended again in 1985.
"But those decrees which are eventually more like policies have not been backed up by serious legislations. More importantly, I think the government has never been able to develop a strong will to ensure the implementation of these basic policies and the result, of course, is like any other law, the operators take the easiest line of resistance, which is to maybe pay N2, or 1K or whatever and flaring so many feet of gas."
He said further, "More importantly, the penalty for any defaulter is too meagre for anybody to go the hard way of reducing gas flaring. Whatever it is, it is cheaper for the companies or the operators to flare gas and pay the penalty than to stop."
Chairman of the Committee, Izunaso, said Nigeria was currently flaring 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day, a development, which he maintained was greatly contributing to environmental problems that were plaguing the people of the Niger Delta.
According to him, "Gas flaring has adverse effect on the health of our people. Today, it is being estimated that Nigeria flares up 2.5 billion cubic feet, and the effect of this gas flaring can best be imagined than experienced. Our environment is increasingly becoming a time bomb due to gas flaring."
He said that the Committee was concerned about the non-implementation of the various deadlines fixed by the government for gas flare down, stressing that this had motivated it to come up with the bill on gas flaring which seeks to outlaw flaring by December 31, this year.
Izunaso, who gave an insight into the provisions of the Bill, said that the Bill proposed stiffer penalties for defaulters, including a shut-down order by the Minister of Energy (Petroleum) as against the hitherto fine of $4 per cubic feet of gas flared.
He added that, "No company, which is engaged in the production of oil and gas shall, after 31st December 2008, flare natural gas produced whether in association with oil or not."
Izunaso said that Committee on Gas had decided to summon all the multinational oil companies involved in the flaring of gas to appear before it today to present their timetable on the gas flare down.
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