{"id":12805,"date":"2026-11-09T03:17:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T03:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/09\/gas-rich-nigeria-watches-flaring-soar-as-households-endure-darkness-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-09T03:17:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T03:17:25","slug":"gas-rich-nigeria-watches-flaring-soar-as-households-endure-darkness-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/09\/gas-rich-nigeria-watches-flaring-soar-as-households-endure-darkness-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Gas-rich Nigeria watches flaring soar as households endure darkness – Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u202625 out of 33 power plants idle<\/strong><\/em>\n<\/p>\n

Nigeria sits on one of the world\u2019s largest gas endowments, yet much of its vast natural gas resources do little to shield households and businesses from worsening electricity shortages, exposing a widening disconnect between the country\u2019s energy wealth and its ability to deliver reliable power.\n<\/p>\n

Households and business owners in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun, Kwara and Oyo states have gone to social media to rant about longer and more frequent outages in recent weeks, leaving millions of Nigerians exposed to rising energy costs and growing dependence on expensive alternatives.\n<\/p>\n

The disruption is largely traced to shortfalls in gas delivered to power generation companies, even though the country is estimated to hold about 600 trillion cubic feet of unproven gas reserves.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Nigeria\u2019s gas flaring rises as producers waste 215 billion cubic feet<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Real-time data from the grid as at 9 a.m. Friday, generation stood at 1,232.10 megawatts, as reported by just eight of the 33 plants on the list. The other 25 showed zero output.\n<\/p>\n

The eight of the 33 listed power plants generating electricity include Delta, a gas-fired plant, led with 333 megawatts, followed by the Jebba hydro station at 247 megawatts and Omotosho at 182 megawatts. Zungeru delivered 160 megawatts, Egbin 111 megawatts and Geregu 107 megawatts. Olorunsogo NIPP contributed 90.10 megawatts, and Trans-Amadi supplied 2 megawatts.\n<\/p>\n

The 25 power plants recorded zero electricity generation, includes Afam III Fast Power, Afam VI, Alaoji NIPP, Azura-Edo IPP, Dadinkowa, Gbarain NIPP, Geregu NIPP, GPAL, Ibom Power, Ihovbor NIPP, Kainji, Kashimbila, MEPP, Odukpani NIPP, Okpai, Olorunsogo, Omoku, Omotosho NIPP, Paras Energy, Rivers IPP, Sapele, Sapele NIPP, Shiroro, Taopex and Trans-Afam Power.\n<\/p>\n

While power plants go short of fuel, oil producers keep burning gas at the wellhead.\n<\/p>\n

BusinessDay\u2019s findings showed associated gas produced alongside crude oil is frequently flared when operators lack sufficient infrastructure or commercial arrangements to capture, process, transport and sell it.<\/p>\n

This means that gas that could potentially support electricity generation, fertiliser production, petrochemicals and other industrial activities is instead released into the atmosphere through upstream operations.\n<\/p>\n

Data from the Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor, corroborated by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, showed companies flared an estimated 323.2 million standard cubic feet of gas in 2025.\n<\/p>\n

That is up from 301.3 million in 2024 and 278.3 million in 2023, and it marks a third straight annual increase. The 2025 figure is still below the 349.3 million recorded in 2020, but the path since then has been uneven. Flaring fell to 264.6 million in 2021 and 230.1 million in 2022 before turning higher again.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Global gas flaring hits $54bn despite growing energy shortages<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we truly prepared for significant gas uptake and usage, especially considering the \u2018Decade of Gas\u2019 initiative from 2020 to 2030?\u201d asked Oyinkepreye Orodu, an energy researcher, noting that little tangible progress has been made in cutting flares. With more than half of that decade gone, he said, the question is a fair one.<\/p>\n

The World Bank\u2019s Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report showed that Nigeria remained among the world\u2019s nine largest gas-flaring countries in 2025, with flaring volumes increasing by eight per cent alongside an eight per cent rise in oil production.\n<\/p>\n

The report attributed the increase partly to inadequate infrastructure for transporting associated gas to domestic and export markets, as well as ageing gas-processing facilities vulnerable to operational disruptions.\n<\/p>\n

Joseph Ambakederimo, chairman of the Board of Trustees, Community Development Committees of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas, identified infrastructure deficits, market incentives, regulatory enforcement and local gas-to-power and off-grid monetisation as critical areas that must be addressed if routine flaring is to end.\n<\/p>\n

Ambakederimo argued that captured associated gas could be directed towards captive power generation, industrial hubs and CNG, while small-scale processing plants could convert gas from remote fields into products such as LPG.\n<\/p>\n

He described the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) as having failed to produce the results originally envisaged by the government and supported the threat to revoke licences where investors are not making progress.<\/p>\n

Adeola Adenikinju, former president of Nigerian Economic Society questioned the economics of gas utilisation deserve greater attention.\n<\/p>\n

He said the government\u2019s proposed sanctions route, withdrawal of licences or heavier penalties, could be complemented or replaced by incentives that make investment in gas utilisation commercially viable.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0NUPRC to revoke gas flare permits over inaction<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real question is: why are companies willing to pay penalties rather than invest in gas utilisation infrastructure?\u201d he asked.\n<\/p>\n

Figures from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, cited in a Senate committee\u2019s call for sanctions on erring oil companies, showed that gas-flare penalty collections were highly volatile in 2025.<\/p>\n

The commission collected only N839 million in January against a monthly budget of N58.32 billion. That was 1.44 per cent of target, a shortfall of N57.48 billion. Receipts rose to N10.29 billion in February, or 17.64 per cent of target, and to N55.20 billion in March, or 94.64 per cent.\n<\/p>\n

April brought a setback, with collections falling to N30.41 billion, 52.14 per cent of the monthly budget. They recovered to N42.99 billion in May and reached N68.94 billion in June, N10.62 billion above target.\n<\/p>\n

July produced N53.11 billion, and August N59.42 billion, slightly above the monthly target. September was the strongest month at N69.08 billion, or 118.46 per cent of budget. October stayed above target at N61.90 billion, before collections slipped to N51.84 billion in November and N48.86 billion in December.\n<\/p>\n

A senior oil executive in the upstream sector told BusinessDay that the government had not demonstrated sufficient commitment to ending gas flaring, arguing that successive deadlines had effectively become \u201cshifting goalposts\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe financial value of petroleum production continues to receive greater attention than the environmental costs imposed on communities where extraction takes place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For an economy seeking to reduce dependence on imported energy products and strengthen domestic manufacturing, the continued waste of natural gas represents a significant opportunity cost.\n<\/p>\n

The contradiction is particularly striking as the government continues to promote its Decade of Gas programme, launched to accelerate investment in gas infrastructure, expand domestic consumption and position natural gas as a transition fuel.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Tinubu urges NLNG to cut gas flaring, lower costs for Nigerians<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

Other experts said Nigeria\u2019s electricity crisis also reflects the financial weaknesses of its domestic gas-to-power market.\n<\/p>\n

Gas suppliers need commercially sustainable payments to maintain production and expand infrastructure, while GenCos require sufficient revenue to pay for fuel and sustain operations.<\/p>\n

Joy Ogaji, managing director of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), told BusinessDay that without structural reforms, including cost-reflective tariffs, improved billing transparency, funded subsidies, and stricter enforcement, the sector\u2019s debt could rise to N17.11 trillion by 2033.<\/p>\n

\n

Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOladehinde Oladipo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dipo Oladehinde is a skilled energy analyst with experience across Nigeria’s energy sector alongside relevant know-how about Nigeria\u2019s macro economy.
\n
\nHe provides a blend of market intelligence, financial analysis, industry insight, micro and macro-level analysis of a wide range of local and international issues as well as informed technical rudiments for policy-making and private directions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source: <\/p>\n

Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u202625 out of 33 power plants idle Nigeria sits on one of the world\u2019s largest gas endowments, yet much of its vast natural gas resources do little to shield households… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}