Gas Flaring & Utilisation
For decades, the night sky over the Niger Delta has been lit by the orange glow of gas flares - a visible symbol of waste, pollution, and missed opportunity. Gas flaring in Nigeria has been one of the most contentious environmental and economic issues in the country's oil and gas history. This unit examines the causes, consequences, and the ongoing struggle to eliminate routine flaring while converting waste gas into valuable products.
History of Gas Flaring in Nigeria
Gas flaring began in Nigeria almost simultaneously with commercial oil production in the late 1950s. When Shell-BP struck oil at Oloibiri in 1956, the associated gas released during production was simply burned off at the wellhead. At the time, there was no infrastructure to capture, process, or transport the gas, and crude oil was the sole commercial objective.
Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, gas flaring continued largely unchecked. Nigeria routinely flared over 70% of its associated gas production. By the 1990s, Nigeria had become the second-largest gas-flaring nation in the world after Russia, burning off an estimated 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day.[1]
The economic cost was staggering. Billions of dollars in potential revenue from gas sales were lost each year. The environmental cost was equally severe, with flaring contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution, and the degradation of Niger Delta communities' health and livelihoods.
Environmental & Health Impact
Gas flaring produces a range of pollutants that affect both the global climate and local communities in the Niger Delta.
Climate Impact
Gas flares emit carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and black carbon (soot). Nigeria's gas flaring has historically released tens of millions of tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, making it a significant contributor to the country's total greenhouse gas emissions.[4] Incomplete combustion at some flare sites means that unburned methane - a greenhouse gas over 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period - escapes directly into the atmosphere.
Local Health Effects
Communities living near flare sites report elevated rates of respiratory disease, skin conditions, and eye irritation. Flares burn continuously, sometimes just a few hundred metres from homes, exposing residents to heat radiation, noise, and toxic pollutants including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, and particulate matter. Studies in the Niger Delta have linked proximity to flare sites to increased incidence of asthma, bronchitis, and cancer.[5]
Agricultural Damage
The heat and acid rain produced by gas flares damage crops and reduce agricultural productivity in surrounding areas. Farmers in the Niger Delta have reported reduced crop yields on land exposed to continuous flaring, affecting food security and rural livelihoods.[6]
Water Contamination
Pollutants from gas flares settle on surface water bodies and seep into groundwater. Combined with oil spills and produced water discharge, flaring contributes to the broader contamination of the Niger Delta's water resources, affecting fishing communities and domestic water supply.
Regulatory Efforts to End Flaring
Nigeria has enacted several laws and set multiple deadlines aimed at eliminating routine gas flaring, though enforcement has been a persistent challenge.
Associated Gas Re-injection Act (1979)
This landmark legislation required oil companies to develop schemes for the re-injection or utilisation of associated gas rather than flaring it. The Act set an initial deadline of 1 January 1984 for the cessation of routine flaring. However, the deadline was repeatedly extended and enforcement was weak, with fines set at levels too low to incentivise compliance.
Flare Penalty Increases
Over the years, the government has incrementally raised the penalty for gas flaring from an initial rate that was negligibly low (as little as 2 kobo per thousand cubic feet in the 1980s) to more substantial levels. The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021 introduced a new framework for flare penalties, empowering the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to set rates that more closely reflect the economic and environmental cost of flaring.
National Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP)
Launched in 2016, the NGFCP takes a market-based approach to flare reduction. Rather than relying solely on penalties, the programme identifies flare sites and invites third-party investors to bid for the right to capture and commercialise the flared gas. Winning bidders receive a "Flare Permit" and access to the flared gas at regulated prices. The programme aims to eliminate routine flaring by creating a commercial incentive to capture gas.
Despite multiple deadlines - 1984, 2004, 2008, 2020 - Nigeria has not yet achieved zero routine flaring. However, the volume of gas flared has declined significantly from its peak, dropping from approximately 2.5 billion cubic feet per day in the late 1990s to around 600-700 million cubic feet per day in recent years.[3]
Gas Flaring Decline Over Time
Approximate volumes flared (billion cubic metres per year)
Gas Utilisation Projects
The alternative to flaring is utilisation - capturing associated gas and converting it into marketable products. Several categories of gas utilisation projects have been developed or are underway in Nigeria.
Gas-to-Power
The largest outlet for Nigerian gas is electricity generation. Gas-fired thermal power plants account for the majority of Nigeria's grid-connected generation capacity. Projects such as the Afam VI and Okpai power plants convert associated and non-associated gas into electricity for the national grid.
LPG (Cooking Gas)
Gas processing plants extract liquefied petroleum gas (propane and butane) from the associated gas stream. Domestic LPG production and imports from NLNG have helped grow Nigeria's cooking gas market, reducing reliance on firewood, charcoal, and kerosene.
Methanol Production
The Brass Methanol Project and other gas-to-methanol initiatives aim to convert natural gas into methanol for export and domestic industrial use. Methanol is a key feedstock for the chemical industry and a potential clean-burning fuel.
Fertiliser Manufacturing
Natural gas is the primary raw material for producing urea and other nitrogen-based fertilisers. The Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals complex in Port Harcourt and the Dangote Fertiliser plant in Lagos are major gas-based fertiliser producers. These plants consume significant volumes of gas while reducing Nigeria's dependence on imported fertiliser and supporting the agricultural sector.
Gas Re-injection
Rather than flaring, some operators re-inject associated gas back into the reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure and enhance oil recovery. While this does not generate direct gas revenue, it eliminates flaring and can improve total oil production from the field.
Key Gas Utilisation Projects
| Project | Operator | Type | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLNG (Bonny Island) | NLNG Ltd | LNG Export | 22 MTPA | Operational |
| Dangote Fertiliser | Dangote Industries | Fertiliser (Urea) | 3 MTPA urea | Operational |
| Indorama Eleme | Indorama Corp | Petrochemicals / Fertiliser | 1.5 MTPA urea | Operational |
| Afam VI Power | Shell / NNPC | Gas-to-Power | 650 MW | Operational |
| Okpai Power Plant | Eni / NAOC | Gas-to-Power | 480 MW | Operational |
| Brass Methanol | DSV Engineering | Gas-to-Methanol | 1.3 MTPA | Planned |
Progress & Remaining Challenges
Nigeria has made significant progress in reducing gas flaring. The proportion of associated gas utilised has risen from less than 30% in the 1990s to over 80% in recent years. The volume of gas flared has declined substantially, though absolute zero flaring remains elusive.
Key challenges include the high capital cost of gas gathering and processing infrastructure, security risks in the Niger Delta that deter investment, the difficulty of connecting remote or marginal flare sites to existing gas networks, and the historically low domestic gas price that reduces the commercial incentive to invest in flare capture.
The Petroleum Industry Act (2021) provides a stronger legal basis for flare penalties and commercialisation, and the NGFCP continues to attract investor interest. However, achieving zero routine flaring will require sustained enforcement, investment-friendly policies, and continued expansion of gas processing and transportation infrastructure.
Sources
- World Bank Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR), "Global Gas Flaring Tracker"
- Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources
- NOSDRA, "Gas Flare Tracker". nosdra.gov.ng
- Climate and Clean Air Coalition, "Nigeria: Oil and Gas Methane Emissions"
- Ovuakporaye, S.I. et al., "Effect of Gas Flaring on Lung Function", Research Journal of Environmental and Earth Sciences, 2012; Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, 2020
- UNEP, "Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland", 2011; National Bureau of Statistics / Agricultural surveys