The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is to part the Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission ( NUPRC) and Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to boost revenue generation through proper management of gas flares in line with global best practice.
This is in a bid to arrest huge revenue losses recorded and enhance revenue generation into government coffers.
According to RMAFC Public Relations Officer, Christian Nwachukwu, RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Bello Shehu disclosed this during an interactive forum with delegations from NUPRC and NOSDRA recently in Abuja.
Bello noted that in view of the current government’s efforts to shore up the Nation’s revenue generation, the gas sector of the economy must be given adequate attention with NUPRC and NOSDRA as regulatory bodies in determining quality and quantities of gas production alongside adherence to environmental standards for host Communities.
Responding, the Director of Economic Regulation and Strategic planning of NUPRC, Mr. Babajide Fashino noted that Nigeria is at the fore front of managing gas flares in line with global best practices for economic growth and sustainability. This is done with the introduction of a metering system and calibration of the meters for accurate records of gas management.
According to Babajide, the introduction of such technologies has gone a long way in reducing gas flares gas flaring in Nigeria from 40 per cent to a mere 7 per cent.
Earlier, the Director of ICT in NOSDRA, Mrs. Margaret Adeshida underscored the need for proper monetisation of gas flares in Nigeria, noting that Nigeria flared more than 4.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas leading to the country’s loss of more than $14.6 billion revenue between 2012 and 2021.
This is in addition to $8.3 billion loss in penalty for the wastages.
Mohammed Shehu therefore called on all the relevant stakeholders in the management of the gas economy including the revenue monitoring Committee of the present administration to salvage the Country by coming together to work out proper strategies to convert the gas flare to economic use for enhancing revenue generation into the Federation Account.
