International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment

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Gas Flaring: When Will Nigeria Decarbonise Its Oil and Gas Industry

Received: 07 August 2016    Accepted: 20 October 2016    Published: 08 November 2016
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Abstract

Gas flaring and venting are a safe methods of disposing unwanted gas during emergencies and equipment failures, or where the gas cannot be captured, stored or used economically. In whichever circumstance the flaring and venting occur, they both present an environmental and a resource management challenge. In Nigeria, gas flaring and venting began ever since the start of oil production in 1956. Gas flaring and venting have a number of negative consequences on the environment, human health, and the economy of the Nigerian state. Studies have put the revenue lost to flaring by Nigeria at around US$2.5billion annually. This study reviews the various measures put in place by the government and the oil companies in form of laws, policies, regulations, programmes, and penalties with a view to discouraging flaring and encouraging gas utilisation. However, these measures have not been able to phase-out flaring in the country. Gas flaring elimination deadlines have repeatedly been shifted with the most recent one being December 2012. It was found that economic and fiscal considerations on the part of the oil companies and lack of strict enforcement of gas flaring reduction regulations on the part of the government, couple with ageing infrastructure to develop and utilise the gas resource, poor access to local and international energy markets, and lack of political will to see to the end of gas flaring are the main reasons for continued flaring in Nigeria. Policy makers in the country need to strategise and come up with effective gas utilisation programs. They need to reform and develop the gas industry to effectively support gas gathering; marketing and distribution, and on the part of the government, strengthen its legal and regulatory frameworks related to gas flaring and venting. Incentives should be granted for gas flaring reduction projects and penalties should realistically reflect the prevailing economic value of flaring. If these are not done analysts would continue to question when Nigeria is actually ready to decarbonise its oil and gas industry by eliminating the flaring and venting of associated gas into the atmosphere.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11
Published in International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment (Volume 1, Issue 3, December 2016)
Page(s) 40-54
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Gas Flaring, Gas Venting, Gas Utilisation, Decarbonisation, Nigeria

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Management Technology, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria

  • Department of Management Technology, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria

  • Department of Management Technology, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria

  • Department of Accountancy, Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola, Nigeria

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    Habibu Ahmed Sharif, Dahiru Dauda Hammawa, Murtala Ibrahim, Ibrahim Baba Garba. (2016). Gas Flaring: When Will Nigeria Decarbonise Its Oil and Gas Industry. International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment, 1(3), 40-54. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11

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    Habibu Ahmed Sharif; Dahiru Dauda Hammawa; Murtala Ibrahim; Ibrahim Baba Garba. Gas Flaring: When Will Nigeria Decarbonise Its Oil and Gas Industry. Int. J. Econ. Energy Environ. 2016, 1(3), 40-54. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11

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    Habibu Ahmed Sharif, Dahiru Dauda Hammawa, Murtala Ibrahim, Ibrahim Baba Garba. Gas Flaring: When Will Nigeria Decarbonise Its Oil and Gas Industry. Int J Econ Energy Environ. 2016;1(3):40-54. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11,
      author = {Habibu Ahmed Sharif and Dahiru Dauda Hammawa and Murtala Ibrahim and Ibrahim Baba Garba},
      title = {Gas Flaring: When Will Nigeria Decarbonise Its Oil and  Gas Industry},
      journal = {International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment},
      volume = {1},
      number = {3},
      pages = {40-54},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijeee.20160103.11},
      abstract = {Gas flaring and venting are a safe methods of disposing unwanted gas during emergencies and equipment failures, or where the gas cannot be captured, stored or used economically. In whichever circumstance the flaring and venting occur, they both present an environmental and a resource management challenge. In Nigeria, gas flaring and venting began ever since the start of oil production in 1956. Gas flaring and venting have a number of negative consequences on the environment, human health, and the economy of the Nigerian state. Studies have put the revenue lost to flaring by Nigeria at around US$2.5billion annually. This study reviews the various measures put in place by the government and the oil companies in form of laws, policies, regulations, programmes, and penalties with a view to discouraging flaring and encouraging gas utilisation. However, these measures have not been able to phase-out flaring in the country. Gas flaring elimination deadlines have repeatedly been shifted with the most recent one being December 2012. It was found that economic and fiscal considerations on the part of the oil companies and lack of strict enforcement of gas flaring reduction regulations on the part of the government, couple with ageing infrastructure to develop and utilise the gas resource, poor access to local and international energy markets, and lack of political will to see to the end of gas flaring are the main reasons for continued flaring in Nigeria. Policy makers in the country need to strategise and come up with effective gas utilisation programs. They need to reform and develop the gas industry to effectively support gas gathering; marketing and distribution, and on the part of the government, strengthen its legal and regulatory frameworks related to gas flaring and venting. Incentives should be granted for gas flaring reduction projects and penalties should realistically reflect the prevailing economic value of flaring. If these are not done analysts would continue to question when Nigeria is actually ready to decarbonise its oil and gas industry by eliminating the flaring and venting of associated gas into the atmosphere.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Gas Flaring: When Will Nigeria Decarbonise Its Oil and  Gas Industry
    AU  - Habibu Ahmed Sharif
    AU  - Dahiru Dauda Hammawa
    AU  - Murtala Ibrahim
    AU  - Ibrahim Baba Garba
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    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11
    T2  - International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment
    JF  - International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment
    JO  - International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment
    SP  - 40
    EP  - 54
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-5021
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeee.20160103.11
    AB  - Gas flaring and venting are a safe methods of disposing unwanted gas during emergencies and equipment failures, or where the gas cannot be captured, stored or used economically. In whichever circumstance the flaring and venting occur, they both present an environmental and a resource management challenge. In Nigeria, gas flaring and venting began ever since the start of oil production in 1956. Gas flaring and venting have a number of negative consequences on the environment, human health, and the economy of the Nigerian state. Studies have put the revenue lost to flaring by Nigeria at around US$2.5billion annually. This study reviews the various measures put in place by the government and the oil companies in form of laws, policies, regulations, programmes, and penalties with a view to discouraging flaring and encouraging gas utilisation. However, these measures have not been able to phase-out flaring in the country. Gas flaring elimination deadlines have repeatedly been shifted with the most recent one being December 2012. It was found that economic and fiscal considerations on the part of the oil companies and lack of strict enforcement of gas flaring reduction regulations on the part of the government, couple with ageing infrastructure to develop and utilise the gas resource, poor access to local and international energy markets, and lack of political will to see to the end of gas flaring are the main reasons for continued flaring in Nigeria. Policy makers in the country need to strategise and come up with effective gas utilisation programs. They need to reform and develop the gas industry to effectively support gas gathering; marketing and distribution, and on the part of the government, strengthen its legal and regulatory frameworks related to gas flaring and venting. Incentives should be granted for gas flaring reduction projects and penalties should realistically reflect the prevailing economic value of flaring. If these are not done analysts would continue to question when Nigeria is actually ready to decarbonise its oil and gas industry by eliminating the flaring and venting of associated gas into the atmosphere.
    VL  - 1
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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