TRIBUNE

FG earmarks $1bn to end gas flaring

Ayodele Adesanmi, Abuja - 15.08.2008

THE Federal Government on Thursday in Abuja said it had earmarked $1 billion in the 2008 budget to facilitate the end of gas flaring, just as it adopted new strategy to ensure that it ended by 2009.

Minister of State for Energy (Gas), Chief Emmanuel Odusina, who said this during a ministerial press briefing on Energy (power), said the government was adopting another approach to address the gas flaring problem.

He said lack of infrastructure had been the major challenge which held government back from enforcing the target date.

Chief Odusina said government was putting in place infrastructure after which the stakeholders would come to agree on the date of ending the flaring.

He said it had committed oil companies to work towards ending gas flaring because the country was losing about 2.5 million standard cubic feet of gas being flared every day .

On the provision of gas for domestic use, the minister said the emphasis was on dry gas and the major gas producing companies had agreed to work towards the target amount of gas to be supplied every year.

“Shell and Chevron have agreed to increase the gas supply to 200 million standard cubic feet (mscf) per day, with this, the country should, by the end of 2009, generate additional 6000 mega watts,“ he said.