THE House of Representatives Adhoc Committee investigating revenue leakages in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, has asked the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to compel oil companies to install meters targeted at harnessing associated gas for positive applications in the nation.
*Gas flare The Committee lamented that massive gas flaring is still going on in many parts of the Niger Delta, noting that the development has led to huge loss of revenue. The Chairman of the Committee, Hon Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, who spoke at the end of its sitting in Lagos that gas flaring remained a major challenge in Nigeria as a result of many reasons including limited funding of major gas projects, inadequate monitoring and weak enforcement of sanctions. According to him: ‘’From our preliminary findings, gas flaring is still ongoing in many oil and gas producing areas. This is unacceptable to the government. Nigeria has commercial gas reserves which should be harnessed for export and domestic applications. It is in the best interest of all stakeholders, especially oil companies, the Federal Government and states to bring gas flaring to an end.
’As a Committee, we will do our very best, including visiting all onshore and offshore platforms to monitor the operations of the companies.” Similarly, John Agbonayinma, a member of the Committee said: ‘’the DPR must rise to its responsibilities. Sanctions must be implemented to curb the menace of impunity and corruption in the industry.”
Source:The Nation
