Senate Bemoans Loss of $15m to Gas Flaring Daily
From Sufuyan Ojeifo in Abuja, 08.05.2008
Senate yesterday bemoaned the country daily loss of $15 million to gas flaring, and announced plans to review the Gas Master Plan as proposed by the Ministry of Energy (Gas).
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Osita Izunaso, said, "the bottom line is, we are going to review the Gas Master plan. Nigeria is so blessed, so rich and people are suffering; we are flaring gas, throwing it away as if it doesn't have meaning. We are losing approximately, $15 million a day on flaring," Izunaso told Senate Correspondents, adding that the Senate was not very comfortable with the master-plan proposed by the Ministry of Energy (Gas).
According to him, the Gas Master Plan as proposed by the Ministry of Energy (Gas) needs to be reviewed. The Senate is not very comfortable with the Gas Master Plan as it is now. It has to be subjected to proper scrutiny. In fact, we must open it up and allow critical stakeholders to make input into the Nigerian Gas Master Plan. We are proposing a public hearing on Nigerian Gas Master Plan. There are some constitutional issues we have observed and they have to be treated, because it appeared to us as if the extent of the Gas Master Plan, which is basically to promote domestic utilisation of gas before the export is not what is being followed now.
He said it was possible that the gas companies were now more interested in the export than the domestic issue, explaining that, "we have to really look at it and dwell on the actual pricing of gas in this country to meet up with global realities."
Izunaso said the Senate would also summon Minister of State for Energy (Gas), Mr Emmanuel Odusina, to explain benefits of the road show it embarked upon in London and Singapore, to sell the nation's abundant gas potentials.
He said, "the Ministry of Energy (Gas) had a road show. Some of you who have been following our activities know that we had insisted that the road show must happen in Nigeria here, instead of going to London and Singapore.
"They later bent a little bit and had one in Abuja, one in London, and another one in Singapore. So, we now want to be briefed. We are going to summon the Minister of Energy (Gas) to explain to us how far he had gone with the road show in London and Singapore. We are part of the issue; so we don't want to pre-empt anything. He has to explain how many investors he got; and, how successful or otherwise the road show was," he said.
