GAS FLARING ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA

• About the Bulletin
• Gas Flaring Activities in Nigeria
• Petroleum Updates

About the Bulletin
This bulletin is written by students of the Centre for Oil and Gas Technology at IPS.
The content and views expressed in this document reflect only the opinion of the authors and not of the School.

GAS FLARING ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA
Nigeria is endowed with abundant natural gas resources. The federal government has put Nigeria’s total gas reserves as of January 1, 2020, at 203.16 trillion cubic feet (TCF) (Source: DPR). The reserves are made up of 100.69tcf of Associated Gas (AG) and 102.47 TCF of Non-Associated Gas (NAG). The current gas production is put at 12 billion SCF, which is the associated gas (AG) produced during crude oil production.

Nigeria flares 17.2 billion m3 of natural gas per year in conjunction with the exploration of crude oil in the Niger Delta.

Over the years, there has been a steady drop in the percentage of gas flared in Nigeria. While the volume of gas flared in 2002 was equivalent to 53% of gas produced, the volume of gas flared in 2018 was equivalent to 10% of the volume of gas produced (See Figure 1).

Fig 1: Gas produced and flared in Nigeria 2018 (TCF) (Source: DPR)

In a bid to eliminate flaring, the government introduced several flaring regulations in January 2019. The new regulations can be broken down into three key strategies:

• The introduction of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Program
• Stricter flare gas penalties enforced.
• Accurate metering & data regularly reported, with fines if this is not done.

Flaring has long been a challenge to Nigeria’s federal government and petroleum authorities. They are now committed to meeting global and national gas flaring reduction goals, translating to improved energy efficiency and access, increased revenue, and benefits to the environment and society.

 Petroleum Updates