Gas Flaring: Nigeria Loses $22.9bn In Nine Years — NOSDRA

• As RMAFC seeks robust partnership with NOSDRA, NUPRC on income generation

BY EDMOND ODOK – Amid disturbing lamentations about depleting revenue accruals, the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) says Nigeria lost over $14.6 billion worth of revenue between 2012 and 2021 due to gas flaring.

Additionally, about 8.3 billion dollars was lost in penalties incurred for the wastages, bringing the total lost earnings to over $22.9 billion within the period under review.

NOSDRA’s Director of Information Communication and Technology (ICT), Mrs Margaret Adeshida, made the disclosure at an interactive session her Agency held recently in collaboration with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in Abuja.

Explaining that Nigeria flared more than 4.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas during this period, Mrs Adeshida described the development as unhealthy, noting that it further highlights the need to adequately monetise gas flaring in the country as a huge revenue-yielding venture.

She spoke against the backdrop of the three agencies’ decision to forge a partnership to boost the country’s revenue earnings through effective management of gas flaring activities in line with global best practices.

A statement by the Spokesperson of RMAFC, Mr Nwachukwu Christian quoted the NOSDRA Director as saying; “The country flared more than 4.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas leading to Nigeria’s loss of more than $14.6 billion worth of revenue between 2012 and 2021. This is in addition to $8.3 billion loss in the penalty for the wastage totaling $22.9 billion loss within the same period.”

The statement further amplified the collaborative efforts muted by the RMAFC, NUPRC, and NOSDRA to boost Nigeria’s revenue profile by exploiting its huge gas potential using global best practices as pledged by the RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Bello Shehu during the interactive forum.

According to the RMAFC boss, all necessary steps would be taken to address disturbing huge revenue losses while also enhancing revenue accruals into government coffers.

He said arising from the current administration’s resolve to shore up the nation’s revenue profile, the gas sector must enjoy priority attention with support for NUPRC and NOSDRA as regulatory bodies to focus on the quality and quantity of gas production, besides adherence to environmental standards within host Communities.

Consequently, the RMAFC Chairman urged all the relevant stakeholders in the country’s gas sector, including the Revenue Monitoring Committee (RMC) set up by the present administration to address the dwindling revenue challenge to synergize in working out effective strategies to convert gas flares into economic use that will enhanced income generation into the Federation Account.

In his intervention, NUPRC’s Director of Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning, Mr Babajide Fashino said Nigeria is currently at the forefront of managing gas flaring in line with global best practices for economic growth and sustainability.

He disclosed that this is done with the introduction of a metering system and calibration of the meters for accurate documentation of gas management records.

For Fashino, adopting these technologies has gone a long way to reducing gas flaring in Nigeria from 40 percent to a mere seven (7) percent over the years.