CSO Tackles SEPLAT Energy, Others Over Gas Flaring In N/Delta

A civil society organisation (CSO) committed to good governance, poverty alleviation and environmental disaster management, the Network Advancement Programme for Poverty and Disaster Risk Reduction (NAPPDRR), has expressed concern that carbon pollution, environmental degradation and other associated issues of gas flaring have continued to make the Niger Delta region an endangered zone with the population at risk of extinction.

The executive director of NAPPDRR, Hon. Emem Edoho, identified Splat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited (SEPNU), as the major culprit.

He regretted that the Nigerian firm, which recently acquired the assets of the defunct Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) “is still continuing the tradition of gas flaring that used to characterise MPNU’s activities in, and around its host community – Ibeno local government area of Akwa Ibom State.”

Speaking in an interview in Uyo, the state capital yesterday, the civil society advocate disclosed that the discovery followed the painstaking findings of the NAPPDRR’s undercover team around the SEPLAT’s operational areas after a letter of request under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) had been forwarded to the SEPLAT’s management without response.

He said similar letters drawing the attention of the regulatory agencies to the outdated practice were also sent to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the oil spill detection and remediation agency, NOSDRIA.

Hon. Edoho, who was miffed at the random flaring of gas, which had attendant revenue losses and negative impacts on humans, aquatic, and environmental ecosystems, lamented that the country had lost about $1.9 billion in revenues due to gas flaring between 2020 and 2024 and called on the federal and state governments to take tougher measures to check the menace.

He recalled that Nigeria had launched the Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (GFCP) to reduce gas flaring and promote sustainable development, explaining that “the  programme aimed to harness flare gas for commercial purposes, thereby reducing waste and environmental pollution.”

He said with the NUPRC at the helm, the programme, which targets to end routine gas flaring by 2030 and contribute to Nigeria’s energy transition journey, could be a mirage if the federal government continues to look the other way while the gas flaring continues in the region.

However, the general manager (GM) Public and Government Affairs at SEPLAT Energy, Mr. Ogechukwu Udeagha, during the recent consultative meeting with stakeholders and the commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, Hon. Nsikak Ekong, assured of seamless oil exploration activities with the host communities carried out in line with international best practices.