APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The Nigeria National Petroleum Limited (NNPC Ltd) has said that it collected $85.1 million in six months from oil companies as penalty for gas flaring in the country.
The NNPC stated in a document released recently that the gas flare fees are aimed at reducing gas flaring by oil companies and that it is in line with relevant provisions of the Nigerian law.
According to the document, the flare fees are to serve as a deterrent to drive the industry to greater compliance towards eliminating gas flaring and generation of revenue from gas monetization rather than gas flares payment and warned that it should not be viewed as a sustainable revenue stream.
The NNPCL urged all the stakeholders to confirm with the commission when there seem to be differences in the figures given by some industry participants.
It noted that the disparity is often because “theirs are from satellite estimates whereas the ones from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) are from fiscal grade metering systems and in a few cases material balance, with due consideration for gas oil ratios of the produced and associated gas.
“When it comes to matters like this, the NUPRC is the custodian of authentic data. Putting out erroneous data from sources which might be construed to have genuine data or from erroneous data sources can mislead stakeholders and undermine the mandate of the Commission in the dispensation of its functions.
“As the sole regulatory body in the upstream oil and gas industry, the Commission is readily available to provide accurate and bankable data required for any publication and economic analysis,” it added.
GIK/APA
Nigeria rakes in $85.1m from gas flaring penalties in 6 months
