Posted by From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja on
ABOUT N15 billion was paid as penalties for gas flaring by oil companies between 2006 and last month, the Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said yesterday
ABOUT N15 billion was paid as penalties for gas flaring by oil companies between 2006 and last month, the Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said yesterday
Of the amount, $20,420 million (N2.2 billion) was collected in 2006; $81.9 (N10.26 billion) last year and $18.283 million (N2.123 billion) between January and last.
The DPR, however, said the companies were yet to start paying the $3.5 million per-Standard Cubic Feet (SCF) fine prescribed for gas flaring.
Officials of the DPR were speaking at the public sitting of the Senate Committee on Gas headed by Senator Osita Izunaso.
Some of the companies differed with, stakeholders on the December 2008 deadline for stoppage of gas flaring.
To stem youth restiveness, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is to meet with the host communities to resolve issues being articulated by militants in the Niger Delta.
Attempts by Agip Oil Company to justify its claim to community development initiatives was faulted by a member of the committee, Senator Patrick Osakwe, who claimed responsibility for securing the peace within Agip's production zone in Kwale, Delta State.
In their presentation, the host communities, represented by their chairman, Chief Alfred Bubor, called on the Federal Government not to shift the December 2008 deadline for stopping gas flaring.
About $120.67 million (N15.008 billion) was collected as fine for gas flaring, the DPR stated.
Upstream Business Division Manager, Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited, Mr. Akintunde Carim, said the company had been supplying electricity to the national grid.
He could, however, not give the precise megawatts the company was supplying to its host community.
Bubor said: 'The excuses we are receiving from the operators of the oil and gas industry are inimical to the very existence of the Niger Delta people.
'We stand to uphold the December 31st, 2008 for the gas flare out. Enough of the gas flaring in the region. No matter the difficulties of the oil and gas industry in the country, the National Assembly should evolve a political will and relevant legislation by enacting a deliberate law to contain the situation.'