Shell Ordered to Stop Wasteful, Poisonous 'Gas Flaring'

[obxhead]

Published on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 by OneWorld.net
Shell Ordered to Stop Wasteful, Poisonous 'Gas Flaring' in Nigeria
by Haider Rizvi

Multinational oil companies were ordered by Nigeria's highest court this week to stop engaging in a decades-old process that indigenous and environmental rights groups say has been poisoning the oil-rich area where Africa's Niger River meets the Atlantic Ocean.



snip
Gas is burned off--or "flared"--when it is found in association with oil, explains FoE. This "associated gas" is often seen as a waste product because the company drilled for oil, not gas.

Gas flaring wastes millions of cubic feet of gas every day, costing Nigerians at least $2.5 billion per year, according to the group, which says the World Bank estimates flaring in Africa could produce about 50% of the current power consumption of the entire African continent.


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1115-02.htm

Can we really call any gas, anywhere, a "waste product"?

[phantom power]

1. No doubt, their numbers said it was cheaper to burn it than sell it.

As the price of all fossil fuels goes up, I imagine that at some point it becomes economically worthwhile to store it and sell it.

I imagine that some day, they will think of the gas they burned off, and wish they could have it all back.

[obxhead]

2. When that day comes I'm sure others will say

If we had all that gas back we wouldn't be able to charge as much now.

It's a sad world. Money is the real god.

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. I remember when they flared in Los Angeles in the 60's and early 70's

Pretty candles in the night sky, the foulest stench short of death.