Nigeria flared 203.9 billion standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas in 2025, according to the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report released in July 2025. This marks a 12% increase from 2024 and positions Nigeria as the only African country among the top global flarers. The flared gas, valued at $1.05 billion in 2024, could have generated 30,100 GigaWatt hours (GWh) of electricity—enough to significantly reduce the country's persistent power shortages. Despite sitting on 215.19 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, the largest in Africa, Nigeria remains the world's seventh-largest gas flarer. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) confirmed that infrastructure gaps and associated gas from oil fields drive the flaring, with monthly peaks reaching 18.7 billion scf in January 2025. Accountability Lab Nigeria's 2025 policy brief noted that penalties of $2 per 1,000 scf are too low to deter flaring, while real-time monitoring remains inadequate. NEITI reported that 183.4 billion scf were flared in 2023, worth $458.5 million. Communities in the Niger Delta, including Obrikom and Egbema, recorded thousands of respiratory cases between 2013 and 2023, with doctors linking the rise to air pollution from flares. The World Health Organization's air quality guidelines are consistently exceeded in these areas.
Nigeria's gas flaring has increased for two consecutive years, even as officials speak of a 10 billion cubic feet per day production target by 2027. The country is burning enough gas to power millions of homes while citing energy deficits as a national crisis. With penalties unchanged and monitoring still weak, the economic and health toll grows while regulators appear more focused on volume targets than enforcement. This pattern suggests the flaring will continue, regardless of how many reports condemn it.
