Why does Nigeria burn off gas while power stations say they are short of it?

Nigeria has some of the largest gas reserves in Africa. This week, a dozen power plants sat idle on Sunday and the government and NNPC argued about gas supply. Yet at oil fields in the Niger Delta, gas is burned off into the sky every day. How can both be true?

The explanation below is general. The figures come from the regulator's reports, as reported by the outlets listed. Today's news story has the latest numbers.

Gas that comes with oil

Think of opening a bottle of soft drink. The drink comes out, and so does gas. Many oil wells are like that. When crude is pumped up, gas comes with it. This is called associated gas.

In 2025, more than half of Nigeria's gas output, about 54 per cent, was associated gas, ThisDay reported from NUPRC data.

An oil company drilling for crude has to do something with that gas. It can use it to run its own equipment, pump it back underground, send it down a pipeline to be sold, or burn it.

Why burn it

To sell gas, you need a pipe from the field to a processing plant, the plant itself, and then more pipes to a power station, factory or export terminal. That costs a lot of money and takes years.

Many oil fields are small, remote, or deep in creeks. Some new producers start pumping oil before their gas equipment is ready. NUPRC's 2025 annual report blamed part of last year's rise in flaring on exactly that, BusinessDay reported.

If there is no pipe, the gas cannot stay in the well while the oil keeps flowing. So it is burned at a flare.

The penalty is not always enough

Nigeria charges companies for every unit of gas they flare. Penalties came to ₦611.42 billion in 2025, up from ₦391.26 billion the year before, according to the annual report.

That sounds large, but for some producers it is still cheaper to pay than to build. An economist, Adeola Adenikinju, asked in BusinessDay why companies are "willing to pay penalties rather than invest" in gas capture.

How much is lost

About 215 billion cubic feet of gas was flared in 2025, the annual report shows, according to BusinessDay. That was 7.89 per cent of all gas produced. Most of the rest, about 92 per cent, was used, sold, exported or pumped back.

So most Nigerian gas does get used. But the share burned is not small, and the annual report shows it rising slightly from 2024.

Why power stations still run short

Gas that is flared is usually at the wrong place: far from the pipelines that feed power stations. Stopping flaring would not by itself fix this week's shortage. What power stations need is enough gas, processed, in the right pipeline, paid for under a contract. A problem at any of those steps can leave a plant idle. Our guide to that chain explains it.

What it means for you

Every cubic foot burned at a flare is gas that could have made electricity, cooking gas or CNG for buses. Capturing more of it would mean more gas for the home market over time, and less smoke and heat for the communities that live next to the flares. When you hear an official promise to end flaring, ask the follow-up question: where will the pipes and plants come from, and who will pay for them?