Nigeria lost $76.59m to gas flaring in Sept

Nigeria lost $76.59 million in one month, as oil and gas companies operating in the country flared 25.53 billion standard cubic feet (SCF) of gas in the month of September 2017.

According to data released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in its Monthly Financial and Operations Report for that month, the amount lost to gas flaring in August was 10.44 percent lower than the $85.53 million, about N26.51 billion lost to gas flare in August, as oil firms flare 28.51 billion SCF of gas.

Using an average exchange rate of N310 to a dollar and a natural gas price of $3 per 1,000 SCF as stipulated by the NNPC, flaring 25.53 billion SCF of gas translates to a loss of N23.74 billion.

In addition, the report noted that the country lost $615.69 million, about N190.86 billion to gas flaring between January and September 2017, as the oil and gas companies flare 205.23 billion SCF of gas in the nine-month period.

Giving a breakdown of the quantity of gas flared in the nine-month period, the stated that in the January, February, March, April and May and 2017, oil firms flare 24.77 billion SCF, 20.42 billion SCF, 21.47 billion SCF, 20.5 billion SCF and 21.75 billion SCF of gas respectively.

On the other hand, 19.90 billion SCF, 22.38 billion SCF, 28.51 billion SCF and 25.53 billion SCF of gas was flared in June, July, August and September respectively.

The report further noted that a total of 221.26 billion SCF of gas was supplied in September 2017, out of which 18.74 billion SCF and 12.04 billion SCF was supplied domestically to power firms and industries respectively, while 94.81 billion SCF was exported.

In the export segment, 1.89 billion and 4.65 billion SCF of gas was exported through the West African Gas Pipeline and Escravos Gas to Liquid project respectively, while 2.65 billion SCF and 85.63 billion SCF was exported through Natural Gas Liquids/Liquefied Petroleum Gas and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, respectively.

Furthermore, apart from the 25.53 billion SCF of gas flared in September, 59.33 billion SCF and 10.82 billion SCF of gas was re-injected and used as fuel gas respectively, bringing the quantity of non-commercialised gas to 95.68 billion SCF.