The duo confronted each other with conflicting facts on the economic and environmental damaging practice at the Gas Competence Seminar organised by the World Bank and the International Gas Union (IGU) in Abuja.
While Antigha said only 10 percent of current associated gas production was currently being flared, Kachikwu insisted that the figures were much more than that.
Gas flaring is the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction processes and is regrettable from an economic viewpoint because a valuable resource is wasted.
However, it is even more regrettable from an environmental perspective because 140-150bcm of flared natural gas translates into 270-290 million tons of C02 emissions per year, according to data from the Post Carbon Institute.
Despite this, the institute says Nigeria remains the second largest flaring country in the world and emits around $1.8 billion worth of gas annually.
Founded in 2003 and based in Santa Rosa, California in the United States, the Post Carbon Institute’s mission is to lead the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world by providing individuals and communities with the resources needed to understand and respond to the interrelated ecological, economic, energy, and equity crises of the 21st Century.
“My gut feeling is that those numbers are very deceitful. I believe there is a lot of management of those figures to suit the penalty being charged. We are currently looking at independent tracking to ascertain the real gas flare volume so that we would not rely on the figures from the International Oil Companies (IOCs) or the DPR”, said Kachikwu.
In contrast, Antigha said that about 215 oil producing fields in Nigeria produced about 4.33 billion cubic feet (BCF) of associated gas per day, and that an average of 771 million standard cubic feet (MMSCF) is being flared.
He also added that 52 percent of the fields utilize gas above 90 percent while the IOCs account for over 80 percent of gas flared in Nigeria.
According to DPR figures, 330BCF of gas were flared in 2015, which is capable of generating 3,500MW of electricity or an equivalent of three trains of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), representing a loss of $850 million in revenue, or 55 million barrels of oil equivalent.
However, both Kachikwu and Antigha commonly agreed on the negative socio-economic and environmental impact of gas flaring to the country and the economy.
The minister insisted that, rather than focus on penalties, he would prefer a business model that ensures that the entire gas value chain is profitable.
“Unless you create a sound business model around gas production and utilization, gas flare out is never going to work”, he said.
In response, Antigha argued that part of the gas flare challenge includes insecurity and vandalism of gas infrastructure, poor funding of Joint Venture projects, an underdeveloped national gas market and commercial framework, non-resolution of fiscal terms for gas, as well as aging facilities and integrity issues.
Earlier, Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank’s country director in Nigeria, said that gas flaring is a 150-year old industry that requires comprehensive solutions and commitment from all stakeholders.
“There is need to provide a conducive legal and regulatory environment, and also provide infrastructure to take the gas to end users,” Benmessaoud stated.
Bjorn Hamso, program manager, Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR), said that Nigeria has made considerable progress in its gas flare out programme, having moved from its previous position as the second highest gas flaring country after Russia to its current position of seventh.
According to him, “despite the progress, Nigeria still flares about 9 cubic metres of gas per barrel of crude oil mined, which is double the acceptable standard of 4.5 cubi metres, even as globally, there are more than 16,000 flares, many of them are in Nigeria.”
