Nigeria lost N103.6bn as a result of gas flaring in 2015, figures from the latest financial report of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have shown.
According to the NNPC, a total of 271.38 billion standard cubic feet of gas was flared last year. This was despite the corporation’s target of zero flaring of associated gas.
Using a gas price of $1.91 per 1,000 standard cubic feet, as published by the NNPC, and an exchange rate of N200 to a dollar, the 271.38bcf of gas flared last year amounted to $518.33m, which is about N103.6bn.
Further analysis of the national oil firm’s report showed that the highest amount of gas was flared in the month of March 2015, as oil and gas companies operating in the country burnt 28.49bcf.
The lowest volume of 18.8bcf was flared in June last year.
In its vision statement as regards gas production, the NNPC stated that its aim was to make Nigeria the leading liquefied and natural gas producing nation in the world and to promote sufficiency in power supply on the domestic front.
It stated that it would achieve this goal by monitoring the commercialisation of Nigeria’s abundant natural gas reserves, reducing gas flaring, and promoting viable Liquefied Natural Gas projects, power plants and associated gas projects.
The national oil firm said its target was to work towards achieving and sustaining zero flaring of associated gas, but the latest figures from its operations report showed otherwise.
Last week, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Alhassan, called on the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to accelerate plans to stop gas flaring.
She argued that if the gas was conserved for domestic use, it would save the lives of many women.
Alhassan had stated that about 95,300 women die from smoke alone, while others suffer health complications.
The NNPC’s report stated that a total of 247.22bcf of natural gas was produced in the month of December 2015, translating into an average daily production of 8.24 billion standard cubic feet per day.
It noted that for the period January to December 2015, a total of 2,656.08bcf of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7951.42mmscfd during the period.
The report stated, “Production from Joint Ventures, Production Sharing Contracts and the NPDC contributed about 69.89 per cent, 21.88 per cent and 8.22 per cent, respectively to the total national gas production.
“Out of the 228.55bcf of gas produced in December 2015, a total of 126.23bcf of gas was commercialised, comprising 34.17bcf and 92.05bcf for the domestic and export markets, respectively. This translates into an average daily supply of 1,102.41mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 2,969.39mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market.”