Nigeria Burns 76.9bn Cubic Feet of Gas as LPG Prices Surge
An analysis of the Commission’s monthly gas production reports, obtained from its website by the PUNCH, showed that operators burnt a total of 76,919.78 million standard cubic feet of gas within the five-month period.
The volumes represent gas that could have been deployed for electricity generation, industrial use, compressed natural gas (CNG) development, and domestic cooking gas supply in a country still grappling with high energy costs and limited energy access.
A month-by-month breakdown revealed that Nigeria flared 17,166.08 million standard cubic feet in January, representing 7.10 per cent of total gas output for the period. In February, flaring dropped to 14,085.55 million standard cubic feet, accounting for 6.44 per cent of production.
In March, 15,575.10 million standard cubic feet were flared, equal to 6.40 per cent of total gas produced. The figure declined slightly in April to 14,517.95 million standard cubic feet, though the proportion rose to 6.94 per cent.
By May, flaring averaged 0.57 billion cubic feet per day, translating to about 15.58 billion standard cubic feet for the month, with a flare rate of 6.9 per cent.
The trend comes amid worsening energy pressure on consumers, with cooking gas prices rising sharply from about N1,000 per kilogramme in January and February to as high as N2,400 in recent weeks.
Industry sources attribute the squeeze partly to inadequate domestic LPG supply, noting a decline in availability from local producers. They also pointed to increased internal utilisation at facilities such as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a contributing factor to reduced market supply.
Despite holding Africa’s largest proven gas reserves—estimated at over 215 trillion cubic feet—Nigeria continues to flare significant volumes of associated gas produced during crude oil extraction, underscoring persistent infrastructure and monetisation gaps in the sector.
