Paper Title
The Impact of Gas Flare on Oil Fields' Environments
Abstract
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and leading oil producer with the second-largest natural gas reserves in sub-Saharan Africa, is faced with energy deficiency. Despite efforts to diversify, the economy remains heavily dependent on oil accounting for 85% of government revenues, 99% of export earnings, and 52% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However the exploration and processing systems used to refine oil leads to millions of dollars in waste due to open air burning known as gas flaring rather than harnessing unwanted gases for economic development. Although developed and developing nations have exploited other means of harnessing and harvesting these by-products for energy generation, Nigeria is yet to explore such alternative means hence leading to her sole reliance on hydro-power. This paper attempts to investigate the appropriateness of the oil exploration and exploitation systems used for crude oil production in Nigeria following documentary review of waste gas and the gains that would have accrued had alternative methods of harnessing crude been used as practiced in other parts of the world. This paper concludes that harnessing the waste generated due to open air burning of gases in the Nigerian Delta will provide enough energy that will generate electricity for the entire nation and help elevate lives and businesses.
Key Words - Energy,Gas Flare, Nigerian Delta, Waste Gas and Oil Production