Senate moves to end gas flaring before 2015

Plans are underway by the Senate to stamp out the scourge of gas flaring in the Niger Delta before the year 2015.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Bukola Saraki, stated this yesterday in Ilorin, Kwara State.

According to him, relevant bills to fast-track the process and meeting this target would soon be put before the Senate.

In a related development, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says gas flare in the country has reduced significantly, currently standing at 19.54 per cent.

The development was attributed to increased utilisation of gas for power generation, export and industrial applications.

According to the latest edition of the Monthly Petroleum Information (MPI) from the NNPC obtained by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket, 197.62 Billion Standard Cubic Feet (BSCF) of gas was produced while 159.02 BSCF was utilised.

The MPI was published on the NNPC web portal on November 1, 2011.

A total of 38.60 BSCF about 19.5 per cent of total gas production were flared at the oil fields in onshore and offshore oil fields in Nigeria.

Saraki also assured that current ecological problems across the country were surmountable challenges the government would also tackle in due course.

The senator was on an inspection tour of some ecological sites in Amule Bridge, Ero Omo Canal and Okelele gorge, all within Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

According to him, “gas flaring as being proposed to end in 2015 is unacceptable. If we still have gas flaring in 2015, I think members of the National Assembly would not have done their work well. It is our desire to bring in bills that would immediately address the issue and stop gas flaring. I hope in the next one month, there should be a bill on that.”

On ecological challenges in the country, Saraki said: “There are many ecological problems all over the country. It is something that is not restricted to one zone. If your are in the North, you talk of desert encroachment, in the South-East, erosion and the West, coastal flooding, in the South South, you talk of oil degradation. It is all over the country. It is a question of limited resources and too many projects.”

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By Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin