Oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria paid an estimated $646 million in gas flaring penalties in 2025, the highest level in five years, as emissions surged.
This development revealed persistent gaps in the country’s long-running efforts to curb the wasteful and environmentally damaging practice.
The available data on the Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor spans from March 2012 to date. According to the data, the all-time high penalties payable was $934 million when oil companies in the country flared gas valued at $1.6 billion in 2018.
Corroborated by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), data showed penalties accounted for 58.7 per cent of the total value of gas flared, which stood at $1.1 billion during the year.
The increase reflected a sharp rise in flaring activity, despite decades of regulatory interventions aimed at reducing emissions and encouraging the commercialisation of associated gas.
Oil producers flared about 323.2 million standard cubic feet (scf) of gas in 2025, highlighting enduring inefficiencies in upstream operations and limited progress in commercialising associated gas.
SOURCE: Businessday
