Mr Seyi Gambo, a former Publicity Relations Officer, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), on Thursday urged the Federal Government to end gas flaring and harness it for domestic consumption.
Gambo said that for the government to achieve that there should be an effective legal framework on gas flaring.
He said that gas flaring was not only ravaging the coastal environment but has deprived the nation of huge revenue needed for development.
“Revenue loss from gas was due to the government’s inability to focus and explore many other natural resources apart from oil.
“This has practically frustrated the development of the gas industry.
“Flared gas is also known to contain toxic substances which could cause respiratory diseases and air pollution, leading to depletion of the ozone layer.
He advised the government to harness the potential of the nation’s enormous gas reserves by encouraging investments in domestic gas projects.
He said this was critical to fuel the nation’s power sector reforms and other critical sectors of the economy.
“The benefits in gas exploration and production are enormous. With gas, we can create more jobs, build more infrastructure, schools and improve the lives of the average Nigerian,” he said.
It would be recalled that the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr George Osahon, had said in December 2014 that the Federal Government lost about N289.6 billion annually to gas flaring.
Osahon said at the 14th Annual General Meeting and Business Forum of the Nigerian Gas Association that the figure came from the 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas flared by multinationals on daily basis.
He said that the 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas flared per day cost the country 4.9 million dollars (about N110 million) at 3.50 dollars per 1,000 standard cubic feet daily.
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