After over 60 years of flaring gas from oil fields, the Federal Government on Thursday commissioned the 300 million standard cubic feet gas gathering facility in Kwale, Delta State.
The gas gathering hub, constructed by Nedogas Development Company Limited, in partnership with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, was commissioned by the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperipe Ekpo.
Our correspondent reports that the gas gathering hub was borne out of the stranded nature of the associated gas resources in OML 56 producer as there was no evacuation pipeline to link gas resources to the Nigeria gas pipeline network from which such gas could be monetised.
According to materials made available to our correspondent at the event, the project aimed at eradicating gas flaring and converting environmental pollutants into products of value.
The facility would contribute about $240m annually to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product within the first four years through trunk line tariffs, liquid product sales to off-takers and other infrastructural tariffs.
It will provide a proximal location for gas producers in the cluster to deliver their gas resources via pipeline connections with distances ranging from 3km of Ebendo to 21km of Matsogo.
Speaking, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, said he was excited to be at the occasion, which he said answered some of the questions bugging the minds of many industry enthusiasts.
On whether Nigeria is serious about the flares out programme and delivering on the COP 26 commitments on reducing emissions, Ogbe answered in the affirmative, saying Nigeria, at COP 26, committed to achieving net zero by 2060.
According to him, the Kwale Gas Gathering facility project was designed to monetise natural gas from fields through gas gathering, compression, injection and metering infrastructure.
“The Kwale Gas Gathering facility is tied to the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure-owned 48-inch OB-3 gas trunkline. It allows companies in the area to end routine flares and gather and inject the gas for economic uses and to reduce flaring,” Ogbe explained.
The Chairman of Nedogas, Mr Emeka Ene, expressed satisfaction that the project was completed despite all initial odds.
While describing the facility as a modular project, Ene said it could be replicated in the over 100 gas flaring sites in the country.
Declaring the facility open for business, the gas minister called on others in the oil and gas industry to come up with new ideas and help in transforming flared gas into valuable products.
The PUNCH reports that Gas valued at $1.9bn was flared in Nigeria between 2020 and 2024, according to the Nigerian Gas Flare Tracker.
The Nigerian Gas Flare Tracker stated that during the period under review, 595.1 million standard cubic feet of gas were flared in Rivers, Delta, Imo, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Anambra, Abia and Lagos States.
The World Bank describes gas flaring as the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction.