Environment
Understanding Gas Flaring in Nigeria
Associated gas is burned at the wellhead because there is nowhere to put it. That single infrastructure gap explains most of Nigeria's flaring problem.
Emmanuel UwanduCrude oil arrives at the wellhead mixed with gas. Separating the two is routine engineering work. The problem is what happens to the gas afterwards: where it goes. In many fields there is no gathering line, no processing facility and no offtake agreement, so the only option is to burn it.
Flaring is therefore an infrastructure problem before it is a behavioural one. Operators flare because the alternative does not exist. Add gathering and processing, and the gas has somewhere to go.
The environmental case against flaring is straightforward. It releases carbon dioxide, it wastes a fuel input that has commercial value, and it exposes nearby communities to heat, light and noise around the clock. Nigeria has set reduction targets under its flaring programme, and progress has been real but uneven.
There is also an economic argument that gets less attention. Associated gas is a feedstock. Captured, it becomes LPG, fuel gas or petrochemical input, and it displaces imported product. The infrastructure that ends flaring and the infrastructure that converts gas into revenue turn out to be the same investment.
Questions on this topic
Quick answers to the follow-up questions clients raise most.
Why is gas flared in Nigeria?
Associated gas produced with crude oil is mostly flared because the field lacks gathering lines, processing facilities or an offtake arrangement for it. Without somewhere to send the gas, burning it at the wellhead is the only available option, which makes flaring an infrastructure gap before it is a choice.
Does captured gas become LPG?
Yes. LPG is produced from associated gas and natural gas, so capturing and processing gas that would otherwise be flared yields LPG along with other products. This is why gas capture, LPG production and flaring reduction tend to be the same commercial opportunity.
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