Some oil and gas experts has urged the Federal Government to put an end to gas flaring and harness it for domestic use.
Speaking on Tuesday, they agreed that the 1.79 billion dollars (about N289.60billion) lost annually to gas flaring was too enormous to be ignored.
George Osahon, the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, said in December 2014 in Lagos that the Federal Government loses 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 $3.50/1,000 standard cubic feet daily.
Seyi Gambo, former Publici Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, said that there was need for government to enforce the terminal date on gas flaring and convert it into improvement of power supply.
Gambo said that an articulated deadline was what the country needed and penalties set aside for defaulters.
Simon Philips, an environmentalist at the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, said that there had been several terminal dates to end gas flaring which had failed.
Philips added that it was time the government find a solution to the problem because of the country’s dwindling income.
The don said that if the gas flared was converted to solid gas, it would not only reduce the issue of environmental hazards, but create huge employment opportunities.
He restated that most countries of the world depended on gas for all kinds of domestic use.
Philips also called on the multinationals and environmentalists to design a blue print that would put an end to gas flaring in 2015.
He wondered why gas flaring would take decades to come to an end in the country.
Dada Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Frontier Oil Limited, Lagos urged the Federal Government to harness the potential of the nation’s enormous gas reserves by encouraging investments in domestic gas projects.
Thomas 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.
(NAN)
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