The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has indicated its intention to revoke permits issued to some companies for flare gas commercialisation sites if they failed to take steps to develop the idling assets within one year.
The warning comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to end routine gas flaring by 2030 and convert gas that would otherwise be burnt into products and services that support power generation, industrialization and economic growth.
The Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, gave this hint on Wednesday when the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, paid her a working visit at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
A statement issued by the NUPRC’s Head of Corporate Communications and Media, Eniola Akinkuotu, indicated that the commission’s boss updated the minister on the implementation of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) and other key initiatives of the commission.
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She maintained that the commission would no longer allow flare gas sites awarded under the programme to remain undeveloped indefinitely.
The NUPRC boss clarified: “One year after an award has been granted, the Commission conducts an evaluation to determine whether there has been considerable progress.
“Where there is insufficient progress, the Commission will take appropriate regulatory action, including revocation of the award where necessary”, she added.
Eyesan, who noted that the programme had continued to make progress despite resistance from some operators at the initial stage of implementation, disclosed that 43 flare gas sites were originally identified for award under the programme out of which 27 sites had so far been awarded to investors.
She also briefed the minister on the NUPRC’s implementation of the Host Community Development Trust framework established under the Petroleum Industry Act to address longstanding grievances in oil-producing communities and ensure that petroleum resources contribute more directly to sustainable development in host areas.
Eyesan said: “To date, 173 Host Community Development Trusts have been incorporated, 147 have been funded, over 1,001 projects are currently ongoing, while more than 200 projects have been successfully commissioned across host communities.”
In his remarks, the minister advocated the need for a more deliberate and aggressive implementation of Nigeria’s gas commercialisation programme to enable the Federal Government meet its target of eliminating routine gas flaring in the country by 2030.
Ekpo stressed: “The core objective is to add value to our gas resources by converting them into critical products and services. We must move away from environmental pollution and toward productive resource utilization.”
It would be recalled that the NGFCP was introduced to commercialise Nigeria’s flare gas resources by giving investors access to flare sites for the development of commercially viable gas projects.
The programme was part of the Federal Government’s initiatives to transform the nation’s huge gas resources into economic value for national development. Available statistics showed that currently Nigeria has more than 215 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, while the nation’s estimated total gas resource base stands at about 600 trillion cubic feet.
