The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said the Federal Government would from 2019 commence the revocation of the licences of oil companies that failed to stop gas flaring in their operations in Nigeria.
Kachikwu made this known while speaking at the 2018 Buyers’ Forum/Stakeholders’ Engagement organised by the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria in Abuja, on Monday
He said that the Federal Government had been locked in a battle with upstream oil companies over the issue of gas flaring.
He noted that the Federal Government was keen on ending gas flaring, but oil companies still give a lot of reasons why gas flaring cannot be ended.
“Government wants to end flare, oil companies still give lot of reasons why flare cannot be ended.
“Bottom line is money. But the reality is that whether or not we deal with cash call issues, it is not an optional agenda, it is a compulsive immediate agenda.
“It is destructive to the populace; it is intolerable in a developed country and it should not be tolerated here either,’’ he said
He added that any oil company that would not find a way to ending its flare ought not to be producing.
“And I have said to the Department of Petroleum Resources, beginning from next year, we are going to get quite frantic about this and companies that cannot meet with extended periods — the issue is not how much you pay in terms of fines for gas flaring, the issue is that you would not produce.
“We need to begin to look at foreclosing of licences. This is very urgent.” he added
