A World Bank report has identified Nigeria as one of the top global nations in gas flare.
According to the World Bank’s annual Global Gas Flaring Tracker, Nigeria, Russia, Iran, Iraq, the USA, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, and Mexico remain the top nine flaring countries in 2024.
These countries according to the report are together responsible for over 75 per cent of global gas flaring while producing less than 50 per cent of the world’s oil, wasting US$63bn in lost energy.
The largest increases in flare volumes in 2024 occurred in Nigeria, Iran, the USA, Iraq, and Russia.
Together, these five countries accounted for 4.6 billion cubic meter (bcm) of the additional gas flaring.
Lack of adequate measures to curb the flare by these countries have made global gas flaring at upstream oil and gas facilities rise for a second year in a row,
Flaring rose by 2 per cent to 151 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2024, the highest level in almost two decades. Around 389mn tonnes of CO₂ equivalent – 46mn of that from unburnt methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases – was needlessly emitted, wasting about US$63bn in lost energy and setting back efforts to reduce emissions and boost energy security and access.
While some countries have reduced flaring, the top nine largest-flaring countries continue to account for 75 per cent of all flaring, but less than half of global oil production.
Iran’s 12 per cent increase in flaring is primarily attributable to an equivalent rise in oil production, along with a continued lack of investment in associated gas recovery and utilisation. Consequently, the flaring intensity was more than three times the global average.
However reductions in gas flaring were observed in Algeria and Libya, mainly due to lower oil production.
Satellite data in the Global Gas Flaring Tracker shows that flaring intensity—the amount of gas flared per barrel of oil produced—has remained stubbornly high for the last 15 years.
All top flaring countries saw an increase in their flaring intensity compared to 2012, except for Iraq and the USA.
In Iraq, flaring intensity remained largely unchanged. The USA, which reduced its flaring intensity by almost 50 per cent compared to 2012, now has one of the lowest intensities globally.
The report highlights that countries committed to the Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 (ZRF) initiative have performed significantly better than countries that have not made the commitment, achieving an average 12 per cent reduction in flaring intensity since 2012, whereas those that did not saw a 25 per cent increase.
The ZRF-endorsing countries with lower flaring volumes, including Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan, have demonstrated progress.
To accelerate progress, the World Bank’s Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) Partnership is supporting methane and flaring reduction projects through catalytic grants, technical assistance, policy and regulatory reform advisory services, capacity building, and institutional strengthening. For example, in Uzbekistan, GFMR allocated US$11mn to identify and fix methane leaks in the gas transportation network, cutting methane emissions by 9,000 tonnes annually, and potentially reaching up to 100,000 tonnes each year.
“Governments and operators must make flaring reduction a priority, or this practice will persist. The solutions exist. With effective policies we can create favourable conditions that incentivise flaring reduction projects and lead to sustainable, scalable action. We should turn this wasted gas into an engine for economic development.” said Zubin Bamji, World Bank manager for the Global Flaring & Methane Reduction (GFMR) Partnership.
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