SDN Hands Over Methane Emissions Tracker To Oil, Gas Regulators

The Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) has handed over the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Emission Tracker (NOGIET), a digital platform designed to strengthen methane emissions monitoring and regulatory enforcement, to regulatory  agencies.

The Board Chairman of SDN, Mr Inemo Samiama, presented the platform to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in Abuja.

Samiama described  NOGIET as a significant step towards improving environmental accountability in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

He said the platform integrated satellite-based methane detection, regulatory mapping of oil blocks and pipelines, and emissions data obtained directly from facility operators.

He said the integration would enable regulators to compare satellite observations with operators’ reports, identify discrepancies, trace emissions to specific facilities and prioritise inspections.

“Methane is one of the most powerful drivers of near-term climate change. Over twenty years, a tonne of methane warms the planet more than eighty times as much as a tonne of carbon dioxide.

“Nigeria has committed to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent  by 2030. The Commission sits “at the heart of that commitment, and regulators cannot enforce what they cannot see” he said .

According to Samiama, the platform was developed with support from the Global Methane Hub to provide both the NUPRC and NMDPRA with a better overview of methane emissions across the oil and gas sector.

“With support from the Global Methane Hub, NOGIET was built to give the Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMODPRA) a better overview of methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. ”

He said SDN handed over the platform, including its front-end and back-end components, at no cost to the commission.

He added that the platform would be transferred to the commission’s subdomain, while a separate handover would be conducted for NMDPRA to enable both regulators to use and manage the system.

He urged the commission to integrate NOGIET into its daily monitoring, inspection and enforcement activities, keep its data updated and ensure the security of the platform.

“ NOGIET is strongest when the satellite and the ground-truthed data speak together,” he said, stressing the importance of comparing independent observations with facility-level measurements.

Samiama said SDN hoped that the NUPRC and NMDPRA, alongside the National Council on Climate Change, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Global Methane Hub, would present the platform at the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, in November.

He described the initiative as an opportunity for Nigeria to demonstrate leadership in the use of technology for methane monitoring, adding that the platform could be expanded to track other greenhouse gases in the future.

Also speaking, Capt. John Tonlagha, Executive Commissioner for Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC), NUPRC, commended SDN and the Global Methane Hub for their technical and financial support.

Tonlagha said the platform would strengthen emissions surveillance, help identify emission hotspots and improve the credibility and reliability of environmental data.

He said the initiative was timely as the commission intensified implementation of its 2022 guidelines on the management of fugitive methane and greenhouse gas emissions in the upstream oil and gas sector.

He added that the guidelines required operators to transition from estimated emissions reporting to measurement-based reporting by the first quarter of 2027.

According to him, NOGIET aligns with the commission’s digital transformation agenda and Nigeria’s commitment to reducing methane emissions, ending routine gas flaring and achieving net-zero emissions by 2060.

Tonlagha said the commission would work towards integrating the platform into its regulatory monitoring and data management systems to ensure its effective and sustainable use.

Similarly, Mr Abdulafiz Balogun, Director of HSEC at NUPRC, said the platform would enhance technology-driven environmental regulation by enabling the commission to independently verify emissions data submitted by operators.

Balogun said the commission would collaborate with SDN to integrate the system into its digital infrastructure and ensure that it delivered measurable improvements in emissions monitoring, regulatory compliance and enforcement.

He commended the technical teams of SDN and the commission, particularly the HSEC and ICT personnel, for their contributions to the development of the platform.