Stakeholders seek strict enforcement of Gas flaring regulations
Worried by the consistent flouting of enabling legislation aimed at curbing gas flaring, stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have called for strict enforcement of the recently enacted Flared Gas ( Prevention and Waste) Regulation, 2018.
At a 2-day Oil & Gas workshop held in Lagos, stakeholders including government officials deliberated on how to effectively regulate and commercialise gas flaring in Nigeria. The workshop was organised by Syncrest Energy Limited, in partnership with George Etomi & Partners and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The Workshop was facilitated by energy experts from the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, NGFCP, Wycliffe Advisory & Consulting Services, George Etomi & Partners, Tranergy & Co, Primera Africa Legal, and Pioneer Energy.
Industry players, investors, representatives of the Ministry and Regulatory bodies in the oil and gas sector, were in attendance.
The Workshop touched on the Gas Industry, in terms of gas monetisation strategies, gas dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regional markets, the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, the Gas Flare Regulation, transnational and commercial structures, Project bankability, etc.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Justice Derefaka, Programme Manager of the NGFCP, on the importance of eliminating gas flaring noted, “flaring gas is a waste of natural resources only 12.5 million out of 180 million people have access to electricity.”
While giving an overview of the gas industry, Abimbola Olufore (Wycliffe Advisory & Consulting), highlighted that, “with respect to commercialisation of gas, there is a nexus of gas with virtually all sectors of the economy, from the power sector to the healthcare sector, the agriculture sector and the textile industry.”
Ann Norman, Pioneer Energy, extensively showcased the benefits of various remotely operated modular flare gas processing solutions.
Abolaji Femi-Ishola (Tranergy & Co.), in discussing the gas-energy nexus, stated “As gas prices come close to market prices, there will be an increase in gas deals. The core of gas production, goes to power consumption, to ensure that power plants are not stranded and have enough gas as feedstock”.
Israel Aye (Primera Africa Legal), enlightened participants about the legal and regulatory expectations within the Regulation, while Ivie Ehanmo, discussed the legal, regulatory, transactional and commercial structures and strategies for flare gas commercialisation and sale to off-takers.
The Flare Gas Regulations had been signed into law by President Muhammed Buhari in July 2018. Gas flaring in Nigeria is a tremendous waste of scarce natural resource and fuel. It also contributes to climate change.
The gas commercialisation programme seeks to provide a framework to eliminate gas flaring through gas utilisation projects which are technically and commercially sustainable. These projects would be developed by competent third-party investors who are being invited to participate in a competitive and transparent bid process. The first stage of the bidding process commenced in January 2019.
The NGFCP hopes to attract investment of about $3Billion, creating over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by over 20,000MT yearly.
SOURCE: oglinks.news
