Nigeria Lost ₦826bn In Gas, 15,400 GWh of Electricity, And ₦472bn In Flaring Fines Between January and May 2025

Nigeria has lost an estimated ₦826 billion ($539.2 million) worth of gas to flaring between January and May 2025. This volume of wasted gas had the potential to generate about 15,400 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity.

Data from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), under the Federal Ministry of Environment, revealed that within these five months, oil companies flared approximately 154.1 million standard cubic feet (Mscf) of gas. This activity released around 8.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere.

Beyond environmental damage, these emissions include black carbon and harmful organic compounds that worsen air quality, create smog, and threaten human health. Financially, the government also lost about ₦471.8 billion ($308.1 million) in flaring penalties that were neither collected nor enforced.

To put the losses in perspective, Nigeria’s annual infrastructure financing needs stand at about ₦153.1 trillion ($100 billion), with a projected total requirement of nearly $1 trillion over the next decade to close the infrastructure gap. The forfeited fines in just five months of 2025 represent 0.308 per cent of that annual financing target.

Meanwhile, under the Bola Tinubu regime, the government’s focus has tilted toward attracting foreign capital. However, critics argue that this has brought in more Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), often labelled “hot money“, rather than long-term Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), raising concerns about sustainability since portfolio investors typically exit markets quickly after making short-term gains.

For comparison, in 2024 alone, Nigeria lost about ₦1.6 trillion ($1.05 billion) to flared gas that was not repurposed, alongside ₦922 billion ($602 million) in uncollected flaring fines.

Despite these mounting losses, the Gas Flaring (Prohibition and Punishment) Bill, designed to ban flaring and impose penalties on oil and gas companies operating over 70 Oil and Mining Leases (OMLs) across onshore and offshore fields, is still awaiting its third reading at the House of Representatives.

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About The Author

Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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Kangmwa Gofwen

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