Senate Pegs Gas Flare-Out At 2010

By JOSES SEDE

SENATE on Thursday passed the gas, the flaring and shifted the post to December 31st 2010 as deadline for oil companies operating in the country to end gas flaring.

The bill, entitled Gas Flaring (Prohibition and Punishment) Bill 2009, scaled through third reading yesterday on the floor of the Senate at the conclusion of all its 18 clauses.

Sponsor of the bill, Senator Osita Izunaso while leading the debate at the resumed consideration of the bill in the Committee-of-the-Whole, explained that it focuses on stopping environmental hazards posed by gas flaring.

The Gas Flaring Bill, he further explained,would reduce health hazards and minimize economic wastage, regretting that Nigeria was losing an estimated N2.5 billion annually from gas flaring.

“Gas flaring has adverse effect on the health of our people. Today, it is being estimated that Nigeria flares up 2.5 billion cubic feet, and the effect of this gas flaring can best be imagined than experienced. Our environment is increasingly becoming a time bomb due to gas flaring”, he continued.

Senator Izunaso speaking on the need to curb the menace of gas flaring said because of the lack of implementation of the various deadlines fixed by government for companies to stop the flaring of gas, the Senate was moved to initiate the gas flaring bill that will outlaw gas flaring by December 31, 2008.

He also added that the bill would stipulate stiffer penalties for defaulters that include a shut down order to be given by the Minister of Energy (Petroleum)as against the former fine of $4 per cubic feet of gas flared.
Section one of the bill as passed yesterday reads, “Natural gas shall not be flared in any oil and gas production, operation, block or field onshore or off shore or gas facility (processing treatment plant etc) which shall commence operations after the commencement of this Act.

While section two reads, “No company engaged in the production of oil and gas shall after December 2010, flare natural gas produced whether in association with oil or not.”

The bill further stipulates strict adherence to gas laws by requiring operators in the oil sector to categorize all the flared gas resources, such as daily quantity flared, reserve, location and composition within 90 days.

It also requires the companies to submit data along with gas utilization plans to the Minister, for the gas they intend to utilize prior to the December 2010 flare-out deadline for his approval.

Sub-section 3b reads, “The Minister shall approve the same within 60 days of receipt of the said plan and shall post all approved plans, all data of planned natural gas resources and all data of unplanned natural gas resources.