Petroleum engineers advocate stiff penalty for gas flaring

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nigeria Council, has called for enforcement of  stiff penalties for gas flaring in Nigeria.

Prof. Olalekan Olafuyi, Chairman, SPE, Nigeria Council, made this known at a news briefing ahead of the 2022 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) on Wednesday in Lagos.

The  NAICE is an annual event of the SPE and this year’s edition is scheduled to hold from Aug. 1, to Aug. 3, at Eko Hotel, Lagos.

Olafuyi said the theme of the conference: “Global Transition to Renewable and Sustainable Energy and the Future of Oil and Gas in Africa,” is very apt and in line with current realities.

He said, “The world is facing the challenges of balancing the urgency of transition to cleaner energy with the obvious energy deficit and economic challenges experienced in recent times.

“It is expected that adaptive strategies for energy transition should be adopted in Africa. This is the core of the conference.”

According to him, there is a need to maximise Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources to address the nation’s energy deficit.

To this end, he said, there was a need to enforce the penalty on gas flaring by oil companies to deter the practice which was affecting the country negatively.

Olafuyi said President Muhammadu Buhari had assured the global community of Nigeria’s commitment to achieving a net zero carbon emission by 2060 and was working toward that.

He also called for investments in gas infrastructure across the country and establishing  policies that would support gas development and utilisation.

On the spate of oil theft in the country, Olafuyi said SPE was ready to assist the government in proffering solutions that could curb the menace.

He added that the activities of vandals and oil thieves were shortchanging Nigeria’s revenue and had become a huge challenge to the industry.

Olafuyi said the 2022 NAICE would feature contributions from Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and Malam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.

He gave other speakers as Mr Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Mr Gbenga Komolafe, Commission’s Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.