NUPRC receives $85m as gas flare penalty in six months

<p>The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said from January till date, it collected a total of $85.1 million as penalty for gas flare.</p>, <p>It said while efforts are towards flare elimination and not penalty, the flare penalty is not a flat rate of $2 per thousand Standard cubic feet (Scf) but a two-tier regime of $2 and $0.5 per thousand Scf, depending on the average daily crude oil production.</p>, <p>The Commission made the disclosure in a document obtained by the Nigerian Tribune.</p>, <p>According to NUPRC, the overall aim of the flare gas administration was not to be viewed as a sustainable revenue stream but as a deterrent,” to drive the industry to greater compliance towards eliminating gas flaring and generation of revenue from gas monetisation rather than flare payment.”</p>, <p>In view of this, the Commission said it has led the effort in ensuring that the Federal Government’s drive to eliminate gas flaring in the country is achieved in a timely manner.</p>, <p>“All companies currently flaring gas are charged gas flare fees in line with the relevant provisions of the law, thus driving down the appetite of oil and gas companies to continue gas flaring, while increasing Government take from the sector.</p>, <p>“For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission, being the sole regulatory body in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry, keeps record of daily, weekly and monthly gas.”</p>, <p>While clarifying various disparities in gas flare data measurements, it said organizations use different technologies and systems to measure flares according to their mandates and capacities.</p>, <p>“These include the Gas Flare Tracker system (GFT), Fiscal Grade Metre (FGM), Gas to Oil (GOR), and Material Balance which is used to measure what goes to flare,” it said.</p>, <p>However, the Commission said not all of these can be used to measure actual gas flares for the purpose of accounting and fines.</p>, <p>It said while the Gas Flare Tracker is used by some to monitor emissions in remote areas