Abuja — The Senate has given oil companies operating in Nigeria a December 31, 2010 deadline to end gas flaring.

The deadline will be binding once the National Assembly passes a Bill seeking to prohibit and punish gas flaring in Nigeria.

Entitled, Gas Flaring (Prohibition and Punishment) Bill 2009, the Upper House yesterday subjected it to clause-by-clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole.

Only four out of about 18 clauses had, as at yesterday, been passed by the Senate. The new deadline was contained in one of the clauses passed.

According to Section 1 of the Bill, "Natural gas shall not be flared in any oil and gas production operation, block or field onshore or off shore or gas facility (processing treatment plant etc) which shall commence operations after the commencement of this Act."

Section two reads: "no company engaged in the production of oil and gas shall after December 2010, flare natural gas produced whether in association with oil or not."

The Bill also requires operators in the oil sector to, within 90 days of the passage of the bill, categorise all of their flared gas resources, including daily flare quantity, reserve, location and composition.

It provides that the companies would submit data along with gas utilisation plans to the minister, for the gas they intend to utilise prior to the December 2010 flare out deadline.

Sub-section 3b states: "The minister shall approve the same within 60 days of receipt of the said plan and shall post all approved plans, all data of planned natural gas resources, and all data of unplanned natural gas resources."

The Senate will continue further clause-by-clause consideration of the bill on Tuesday, next week.