Nigeria starts gas flare tracking system – The Nigerian Government has introduced a gas flare tracking system that can help regulators keep track of the quantity of gas flared by oil firms operating in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mrs. Laurentia Mallam who launched the system in Abuja on Thursday said the tracker has the ability to determine the amount of unpaid fines by oil companies estimated at $1.1billion per annum.
Mallam explained that oil and gas companies are pumping nearly 17million tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere yearly, a process that is costing the nation economically and endangering the environment in the region.
“The opportunity cost of gas flaring is the amount of power that could have been generated had the gas been channelled to the power sector. The gas to power potential is enormous and is estimated at 27,612Gwh.
“This would effectively double Nigeria’s current electricity target for 2014 and could provide 40 percent of Nigeria’s total electricity requirements based on a current needs assessment,” she said.
She noted that “the gas flare tracker is able to display the volume of gas flared, which is estimated 319scf per annum. It also has the ability to calculate the amount of unpaid fines by facility owners, estimated at $1.1b per annum”.
The system, which is domiciled with the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) was funded by the United Kingdom government through the Department for International Development (DFID).
It will enable the Nigerian government to impose in full, necessary sanctions against oil companies which continue to flare gas in the country.
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