Shell says it requires an additional $3 billion (N375 billion) and the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis to be able to end gas flaring in the country, insisting that it will be unable to meet the December 2008 deadline due to insecurity in the oil-rich region and funding shortfalls. The oil giant said in a report on “The elusive goal to stop flares” released during the week that its major challenge in the country was to gather gas from more than 1,000 wells scattered over the Niger Delta which, it said, is larger than Portugal.
According to the company, this means building gas collection facilities at the oilfields and constructing an extensive pipeline network to carry the gas to an industrial facility where it is turned into a liquid for transport.
“Recent experience at Shell illustrates the challenges companies face as they try to put out flares. Shell reduced the amount of gas burned in oilfields by almost 60 percent between 2001 and 2007 as part of a decade-old commitment to halt the practice of continuous flaring by 2008. Shell, however, has struggled to meet that deadline, mainly due to security issues and funding difficulties with its main partners in Nigeria,” the company said.