FLASHBACK: THE END TO GAS FLARE STILL ON COURSE AS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT APPROVES 205 APPLICANTS FOR THE NIGERIAN GAS FLARE COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMME (NGFCP)
July 23, 2025 | News
neurological, reproductive and developmental effects
FLASHBACK:
THE END TO GAS FLARE STILL ON COURSE AS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT APPROVES 205 APPLICANTS FOR THE NIGERIAN GAS FLARE COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMME (NGFCP)
-By Zik Gbemre
We are glad with recent report that the Nigerian Federal Government has approved 205 applicants for its Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP). This was made known by Justice Derefaka, the Program Manager of the NGFCP.
It was only some days ago that it was reported that the Federal Government had approved the Statements of Qualification (SOQs) Evaluation Report presented by the Inter-Ministerial Committee of the NGFCP, which we believed was an assuring development on the Federal Government’s promise of harvesting flared Gas for the economic advantage of the country with its NGFCP initiative.
It would be recalled that over 850 interested parties registered their interest in the NGFCP while 238 Applicants submitted Statement of Qualification (SOQs) in response to the Request for Qualification (RfQ) published by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). While a total of 238 SOQ documents were evaluated in accordance with the provisions of applicable Regulations, Guidelines, and Standard DPR Practices for bid evaluation, and were adjudged either a “Pass” or “Fail” status. Following a rigorous exercise conducted in line with established protocol and using the Electronic Evaluation Tool (EET), 205 Applicants emerged successful (attaining a “pass status”) while the remaining 33 Applicants did not meet the minimum requirements and thus attained “fail status”.
It was also noted that: “the Proposal Evaluation Committee (PEC) in the next stage, which is the Request for Proposals (RfP), will evaluate proposals submitted by the Qualified Applicants to determine those Bidders that achieve Preferred Bidder and Reserved Bidder status in line with the criteria of the RfP package”. Ahead of the Request for Proposal stage, an NGFCP Qualified Applicants’ Workshop is scheduled to hold on Monday, 19th August 2019 at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Towers, Abuja.
It is evident that the NGFCP is a very worthy venture that should be encouraged by all stakeholders in and outside the industry, and there is need for relevant Federal Government authorities as well, to see that it becomes a reality. We also admonish that President Buhari and the relevant Authorities in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, should be encouraged by all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to ensure that the Government’s ongoing Gas Flare Commercialization programme, which will liberalize the development of the nation’s gas sector and greatly improve the supply of power, actually becomes a “reality”.
Like we have noted in our past write ups on this issue, Gas flaring not only wastes valuable energy, which can be used to solve the nation’s electricity problems, but it also has significant detrimental effects on the environment and the overall economy. For instance, the implication of gas flaring on human health are all related to the exposure of those hazardous air pollutants emitted during incomplete combustion of gas flare. These pollutants are associated with a variety of adverse health impacts, including cancer, neurological, reproductive and developmental effects. Apart from the Health Impacts Assessment (HIA), it is believed that gas flaring also negatively affects the agricultural aspects. And as such, it causes great loss to subsistent farming and even hunting, which are some of the basic occupations of the locals in the Niger Delta region.
These are some of the things those in the Niger Delta region are exposed to on a daily basis, enduring and subjected to for decades, but no one is talking about that. These difficulties and problems faced by local communities from gas flares are a sufficient justification for ending gas flaring practice at all cost. 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.
Zik Gbemre.
22 July,2019
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