BudgIT Nigeria, a civic technology organisation, has said the Federal Government loses N2.5 billion annually to gas flaring.
The firm made this known in a statement issued by its Communication Lead, Abiola Afolabi, in Abuja on Thursday.
BudgIT called on the Federal Government to take action against the effects of gas flaring which continues to contribute to Nigeria’s environmental degradation.
The firm commended the Federal Government on some progress made in the fight against routine gas flaring in the last 20 years. It revealed that an analysis carried out by its extractives team showed that the volume of gas produced increased by 91.13 percent while the volume of gas flared reduced by only 38.06 percent between 2001 and 2016.
The statement said, “This implies that oil companies invested more money in gas production activities and are less concerned about sufficiently investing in technologies and infrastructure to control gas flaring.
“What Nigeria has at the moment is potential for the consumption of un-flared gas. Therefore, the supply framework, infrastructure and market systems necessary for un-flared gas to reach its end users’ needs must be collectively and sustainably developed by all stakeholders.”
BudgIT which is interested in entrenching transparency in government budgets urged the Federal Government to explore existing technologies and strategies to reduce the amount of gas flared into the atmosphere.
