Gas flaring: FG mulls revocation of oil companies’ licence in 2019

The Federal Government said it would from 2019 consider the revocation of the licences of oil companies that fail to stop flaring of gas in the country.

Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu gave the for Mr. hint yesterday in Abuja at the 2018 Buyers’ Forum/Stakeholders’ Engagement organised by the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN).

Kachikwu said the new measure has become necessary because of the effect of gas flaring on the environment and people explaining that the government would no longer tolerate excuses by companies.

He said, “Government wants to end flare, oil companies still give lot of reasons why flare cannot be ended. it is not an optional agenda, it is a compulsive immediate one. It is destructive to the populace; it is intolerable in developed country and it should not be oil tolerable here either.

“I have said to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), beginning from next year, we are going to get quite frantic about this, the issue is that you would not produce. We need to begin to look at foreclosing of licences. This is very urgent,” the minister said.

Kachikwu said that the quest to discourage gas flaring led the Federal Government to initiate the gas flare commercialisation programme.

He added that future renewals of oil and gas licences would involve the assessments of the gas components and gas flare rate of each company seeking renewals.