With the support of the National Assembly, Nigeria intends to sign the United Nations Agreement on Zero Routing Gas Flaring by 2030, according to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

He was speaking on Monday at the opening of the 6th African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition where he represented President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Vice President, who declared the conference opened, said that ending gas flaring was an imperative for African oil producers considering the amount of waste involved, adding that the Nigerian government had set an earlier national target of 2020 to end gas flaring in the country.

While calling on African countries to take advantage of the gas-to-power potentials, he observed that “there is also the gas-to-power challenge in many member-states and the paradox of much gas but precious little gas to fire power plants.”

“It’s time to take a much further stand on gas flaring, both from environmental and a waste-of-needed-resources perspectives,” the Vice President stated to the gathering composed of oil and energy ministers from several African countries and chieftains in the oil and gas sector.

The Vice President explained that the incremental use of gas in Africa’s energy mix has become an imperative, stressing that “if Africa must meet her future energy needs, the issue of the development of a robust gas infrastructure must be jointly addressed.”

According to him, of the over 150 billion cubic metres of associated gas flared annually in the world, “Africa flares an estimated 40 billion cubic metres, while about half of that is flared by Nigeria.” He further observed that Nigeria has the 7th largest deposit of gas in the world with reserves estimated at over 185 trillion cubic feet (TCF), and also the highest quality.

Credit: ChannelsTv