Come Clean on Unusual Gas Flare in QIT, Remediate Environment, Compensate Communities – Ibom Peer Foundation Tells Seplat
By Ekemini Simon
Ibom Peoples’ Empowerment and Ecosystem Restoration Foundation (Ibom PEER Foundation), a Nigerian non-profit organisation has called on Seplat Energy Plc to come clean on the unusual gas flare incident on March 25, 2025 from its facility at the Qua Iboe Export Terminal (QIT), Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The organization said its team and local community actors had witnessed the incident even as heat of the flare was felt several kilometres from QIT, burning as though it was an explosion occasioned by leakage from an oil well, beyond what the flare stack could carry.
In a press release made available to TheMail Newspaper, Ibom PEER Foundation said this is happening when oil and gas companies should be implementing their natural gas elimination and monetization plan submitted to the NUPRC in accordance with Section 108 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and ending routine gas flare in existing sites by 2030 with the Zero Routine Flaring target for 2030.
The organisation said the unusual gas flare at QIT is outside acceptable safety practice under established regulations.
They noted that as stewards of the ecosystem, the organisation condemns the unusual flare describing it as irresponsible act that is further depleting the ozone layer, and driving all the variety of animals, plants, fungi and even microorganisms in the QIT area and Ibeno into extinction and also making the environment uninhabitable by local people.
The release added “Local communities in Ibeno are already at the frontline of climate impact and continue to face the devastating effect of gas flaring and sea level rise due to the heat generated from Seplat Energy Plc’s operations in Ibeno and the shallow waters at the Gulf of Guinea.
“We call on Seplat Energy Plc to come clean to explain the cause of this unusual flare, and state the measures they have put in place in the immediate to remediate the environment and compensate the local communities in the Ibeno area as well as prevent the recurrence of this environmentally destructive incident.
“National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) should provide data on the volume of gas flared and methane emitted and Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) should impose stiffer sanctions on Seplat Energy Plc to serve as deterrence to other companies who operate outside acceptable safety practice.”
Ibom PEER Foundation is a non governmental organisation that promotes a just and equitable use of natural resources, supports the restoration of the polluted ecosystem of the Niger Delta, conserves its mangroves, flora and fauna and advocate for good governance at the subnational levels of Nigeria.