Nigeria lost an estimated 62,400 gigawatt-hours of potential electricity generation to gas flaring between 2024 and 2025, representing an 18.6 per cent increase from the 50,800 gigawatt-hours recorded between 2022 and 2023, despite federal penalties and efforts to curb the practice.
The massive losses occurred at a time when the global oil and gas industry is shifting away from flaring associated gas, choosing instead to capture and commercialise it for power generation, industrial use, and exports.
Data obtained from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency revealed that the monetary value of gas flared during the period stood at $2.2bn. Defaulting operators, including International Oil Companies and National Oil Companies, are liable to pay penalties amounting to $1.2bn.
According to the agency, companies operating in onshore fields flared 380.6 million standard cubic feet of gas, while offshore operators flared 243.8 million standard cubic feet. The agency added that the flared gas generated an estimated 33.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
The regulatory body expressed concern that despite decades of official interventions, gas flaring has persisted across the country, resulting in the continuous waste of valuable energy resources and environmental pollution.
The agency's findings align with the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report, which ranked Nigeria among the top nine gas-flaring nations in the world in 2025, alongside Russia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Mexico, Libya, Algeria, and the United States.
According to the World Bank report, “the nine countries accounted for 83 per cent of all gas flared worldwide in 2025, despite contributing only 46 per cent of global oil production.”
The report noted that global gas flaring increased to 167 billion cubic metres in 2025. Nigeria flared about nine billion cubic metres during the period, making the country the seventh-largest gas-flaring nation globally.
Reacting to the development, Professor Emeritus of Petroleum Economics, Wumi Iledare, said the persistent trend highlights the lack of a commercially efficient gas-to-power value chain rather than mere weak regulatory enforcement.
Iledare stated, “Gas flaring in Nigeria is not merely an environmental issue; it reflects a failure of power market economics, gas commercialisation and sector governance. Every molecule of gas flared represents lost opportunities to generate electricity, support industries, create jobs, earn export revenues and strengthen energy security,”.
He explained that the core challenge facing the country stems from inadequate gas gathering infrastructure, an illiquid electricity market, pricing distortions, and regulatory inefficiencies, all of which combine to make flaring the easier operational choice for companies.
Iledare added, “While higher flare penalties are necessary, penalties alone will not solve the problem. They must be complemented by policies that encourage gas capture, infrastructure investment, market-based pricing and a financially sustainable electricity market where gas producers are assured of timely payment,”.