Firm assures community of gas flare stoppage

MIDWESTERN Oil and Gas, has assured its host community of Umusadege, in Kwale, Delta State that it has not only stopped the smoky gas flare which arose from a newly drilled well in the area, but that it would ultimately stop flaring entirely in its exploration processes.

The assurance came on the heels of the complaints by the community that the gas flare by the company has hampered their normal living routines and threatened their health.

But the General Manager, Technical of the company, Mr. Amarquaye Martey, said the grouse of the community was not exactly on gas flaring, but the smoky flare, which he said has been totally taken care of by the company.

He said: “What was reported is not about gas flaring.
“It is about the smoky flare which is as a consequence of the crude type.

“This came up as a consequence of the crude type and the separation process resulting in unforeseen carry over of entrained oil. We are trucking crude from the remote location until the permanent flow line is completed. So this is only a temporary measure, and  we have even stopped it completely.

But before the community’s complaints found its way into the media, Martey said the smoky flare had been taken care of “through the use of a fluid knock-out that removed the entrained liquid component that causes the smoky flare.”

He noted that there is a good relationship between the community and the oil firm, pointing out that the resort to media for channeling their complaint may have been because of some disagreement between some youth factions in the community.

Corroborating Martey’s explanation, the Production Manager of the firm, Mr. Obiora Nwafor, explained that the company was prompt in responding to the complaints of the community stressing that the type of flare complained about had not been the same type hat had been emitting from their operations.

According to him, “Everything happened between one month and what we have done as a corporation is to engage the communities through our liaison person, Mr. Williams Eboh.

“The solution has been completed and effected,” he emphasized.

Martey assured further that there are plans  to ultimately stop   gas flaring as part of its oil exploration process.  He stressed that the structure for the gas utilization is in its advanced stage. He assured that Midwestern Oil and Gas was already working towards the ultimate elimination of the gas flaring in its crude production process.