Stakeholders examine benefit of gas flaring regulation

Stakeholder in the oil and gas as well as power sector, have examined the need to take advantage of the Flare Gas (Prevention and Waste) Regulation (2018). This, they did at a 2-day workshop organized by Syncrest Energy Limited in partnership with George Etomi & Partners and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources in Lagos last week. 

President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the Flare Gas Regulations into law in July 2018.Energy experts from the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP), Wycliffe Advisory & Consulting Services, George Etomi & Partners, Tranergy & Co, Primera Africa Legal and Pioneer Energy facilitated the workshop.Industry players, investors, representatives of the Ministry and Regulatory bodies in the oil and gas sector were in attendance.

The workshop touched on the Gas Industry in terms of gas monetization strategies, gas dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regional markets, the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, the Gas Flare Regulation, transnational and commercial structures, Project bankability, etc.

Programme manager of the NGFCP, Mr. Justice Derefaka stated the importance of eliminating gas flaring. He said: “Flare gas is a waste of natural resources…only 12.5 million out of 180 million people have access to electricity.”

While giving an overview of the gas industry, Abimbola Olufore of Wycliffe Advisory  & Consulting highlighted that “with respect to commercialisation of gas, there is a nexus of gas with virtually all sectors of the economy, from the power sector to the healthcare sector, the agriculture sector and the textile industry.”Ann Norman (Pioneer Energy) extensively showcased the benefits of various remotely operated modular flare gas processing solutions.

Abolaji Femi-Ishola of Tranergy & Co. in discussing the gas-energy nexus stated “as gas prices come close to market prices, there will be an increase in gas deals” and “the core of gas production goes to power consumption to ensure that power plants are not stranded and have enough gas as feedstock”

Israel Aye of Primera Africa Legal enlightened participants about the legal and regulatory expectations within the Regulation, while Ivie Ehanmo of George Etomi and Partners discussed the legal, regulatory, transactional and commercial structures and strategies for flare gas commercialisation and sale to off-takers. 

The Gas commercialisation programme seeks to provide a framework to eliminate gas flaring through gas utilisation projects, which are technically and commercially sustainable. The NGFCP hopes to attract investment of about $3Billion USD, creating over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by over 20,000MT yearly.