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Article

27 Apr 2010

Author:
Daniel Howden, Independent [UK]

Visible from space, deadly on Earth: the gas flares of Nigeria

Shell's Opolo-Epie facility is the newest gas flare in the Niger Delta. And it gives the lie to claims from oil multinationals and the Nigerian government that they are close to bringing an end to the destructive and wasteful practice of gas flaring... "This is environmental racism," said Alagoa Morris, an investigator with a local group, Environmental Rights Action...[Gas flaring] has been illegal in Nigeria since 1984...Oil companies such as Shell, Exxon, Chevron and Agip [part of Eni] argue that the absence of a domestic market, the imposition of price controls and the high cost of building infrastructure to capture and distribute natural gas have made it economically unviable to end flaring. [also refers to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation]