Suchergebnisse

Associated Gas (AG) flaring in Nigeria is a topical issue in view of the international efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions thereby saving the global environment. The Nigerian government has attempted to eliminate or at least, reduce the volumes of the AG that is currently being flared through both regulatory and non-regulatory measures. However, this attempt reveals deficiency in the legal and regulatory frameworks set to combat the flaring, the lack of efficient and effective regulatory procedures, coupled with the seeming lack of political will from the government to do so. While acknowledging the menace of AG flaring to environment, the current Nigerian President while declaring open the 6th African Petroleum conference and exhibition held on 15th-17th March 2016 (CAPE VI) affirmed that, gas flaring in Nigeria amounts to about 23 billion cubic metre per annum in over 100 flares sites and thus, constitute over 13 per cent of global gas flaring. He therefore stressed that, in processing Africa's hydrocarbon resources, environmental issues must be accorded huge priority. Even though, Nigeria has recently made significant effort to combat AG flaring in 2011 when it introduced and presented Petroleum Industry Bill to the National Assembly for the reform and overhaul of the petroleum industry, however, the Bill is still with Assemblies.

Gas flaring have been condemned severally in different countries of the world. Though the practice is still obtainable in some countries with many calling for a stop. The environmental and health implications were examined with Nigeria as a case study. Data and information were retrieved from pubmed, medline and other search engines. All available data/information depict the negative effects of gas flaring on the environment and humans. Gas flaring have impoverished the communities where it is practiced, with attendant environmental, economic and health challenges. Reluctance on the part of government and policy makers is also a factor. These difficulties faced by local communities from gas flares are a sufficient justification for ending gas flaring practice. Fines by defaulting companies should be so exorbitant so as to deter them while the gas can be processed and produced into cooking/domestic gas. The time to stop is now and the place to stop is here: Nigeria.

The study critically examines the problem of gas flaring and its socioeconomic implications in the KRI with emphasis on Tawke community who are predominantly peasant rural farmers. For several decades, KRI allowed natural gas to be flared which poses severe challenges to health, agricultural productivity and the environment with huge socioeconomic dimension to the survival of the local population. Although Iraq has sizeable natural gas reserves, however, about 70% of natural gas produced are flared which is responsible for more than 20 million tons of CO2 emissions annually that cost the domestic economy billions of dollars in lost revenue and other consequences including threat to public health and the environment. Thus, the study conducted simple narrative and in-depth qualitative in-person interview with some employees of DNO, public sector workers and members of the Tawke community on the impact and socioeconomic implications of gas flaring on their livelihood. The research findings resonate and lend credence to the widely held views on the state of the environment in KRI and revealed severe environmental consequences, health consequences, low yields in agriculture with socioeconomic and cultural implications on livelihood of the local people particularly Tawke community.

AbstractMethane is a potent greenhouse gas but it has received strikingly less social science attention than carbon dioxide in examining climate policy options. This article explores American state policy toward methane that is not captured and instead released into the atmosphere during oil and gas production. It examines whether states have adopted market‐based approaches to price methane flaring and venting through long‐standing severance taxes on natural gas extraction. Such taxes exist in all but one production state, routinely materializing after prolonged adoption battles. Most states have maintained methane release exemptions from these taxes through either statute or administrative discretion between 1960 and 2000, although a few have allowed some form of pricing. Two state legislatures have explored applying these taxes to methane releases on multiple occasions since 2000, amid expanded shale era output and growing public concern about climate and air quality impacts. Steadfast production industry opposition, rather than technical feasibility, emerges as the primary factor leading to rejection in these cases. Even when framing releases as a conventional air contaminant or as permanent loss of a nonrenewable natural resource, states largely continue to exempt flared or vented methane from severance taxes.

This paper examines the need to redress gas flaring activity in Nigeria considering the negative social-economic effects of this unethical practice. The paper makes use of secondary data enriched by the narrative-textual case study (NTCS), an emerging social science research method widely used in Management, Entrepreneurship and Economics (MEEs). The authors observe that gas flaring became endemic in Nigeria because the nation's regulatory agency lack the political will to stop gas flaring recklessness of the major multinational oil companies. The authors therefore counsel on the need for policy makers to be more proactive in enforcing extant gas policy and sanctioning erring multinational oil companies. The paper concludes that energy challenge of gas flaring can be redressed through the formulation of national gas flaring policy, enforcement of national policy & international protocols on gas flaring, sanctioning of culpable multinational companies, optimal gas utilisation through energy liberalisation, adoption of Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and genuine political will on the part of government.

Flaring and methane emissions from oil and gas are a substantial source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, but the funding, technology, and business practices are available to bring these emissions to near-zero. The COP28 platform can accelerate these solutions.

The rapid development of the global oil and gas industry has led to an increase in atmospheric emissions which is detrimental to the wider atmosphere. The flaring of gas during oil exploration and production (E & P) activities alarmingly contributes to the emission of green-house gases which contribute to climate change. The enactment of legislation with adequate provisions for the reduction and elimination of gas flaring from oil and gas activities is very important. Very few countries in the world (e.g. Canada) have been able to successfully eliminate the problem of gas flaring through conservation and the enactment of adequate legislation with stringent sanctions for defaulters who continue flaring. Nigeria is an example of a country with inadequate gas flaring laws. This thesis examines the effectiveness of regulatory regimes on gas flaring in Nigeria with a view to determining if the phase-out of the problem can be achieved. It stipulates that the provisions of the Associated Gas RE-Injection Act (AGRA) 1979 and its Regulations of 1984 are inadequate for the regulation and or elimination of gas flaring. It also advocates for the amendment of AGRA, the development of more effective laws on gas flaring and methods by which the gas being flared can be conserved in order to ensure a clean and healthy environment in Nigeria (particularly the Niger-Delta), free from gas flares.