Nigeria loses 62,400 GWh of potential power to gas flaring in 2024-25

Nigeria lost an estimated 62,400 GWh of potential electricity generation to gas flaring in 2024 and 2025, an increase of 18.6% from 50,800 GWh in the preceding two-year period, despite Federal Government penalties and measures to curb the practice, Vanguard reported.

Data from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency valued the gas flared during the period at $2.2bn. International and domestic oil companies responsible for the flaring faced estimated penalties of $1.2bn.

Onshore operators accounted for 380.6bn standard cubic feet of flared gas, while offshore companies recorded 243.8bn standard cubic feet, according to NOSDRA. The agency estimated that the activity released 33.2mn tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The figures highlight the cost of Nigeria’s failure to develop a commercially viable gas-to-power system as other oil-producing countries increasingly capture associated gas for electricity generation, industrial use and exports.

Gas flaring has continued despite decades of government intervention, wasting a resource that could help address Nigeria’s persistent electricity shortages while increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaking to Vanguard, Wumi Iledare, Professor Emeritus of Petroleum Economics, said the continued flaring reflected weaknesses in power-market economics, gas commercialisation and sector governance rather than enforcement alone.

He identified inadequate gas-gathering infrastructure, distorted pricing, regulatory inefficiencies and an illiquid electricity market as factors that made flaring more commercially attractive to operators than capturing and selling the gas.

Iledare said tougher penalties should be accompanied by investment in gas infrastructure, market-based pricing and a financially sustainable electricity industry capable of paying gas suppliers on time.