The National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA) revealed that Nigeria lost $78.2 million (N118.864 billion) in the first two months of 2025 from gas flaring operations. This is even as the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Senator Abubakar Bagudu said the federal government is using data-driven home-grown strategies to achieve its energy transition goals.
NOSDRA, in its gas flaring report for January and February 2025, stated that the N118 billion lost in the first two months of the year represents 31.48% of the total amount lost to gas flaring within the period.
According to the agency, oil and gas companies operating in the country produced 22.3 billion standard cubic feet (BSCF) of gas from their offshore activities.
The agency calculated the loss using the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s current exchange realities of N1, 520 to a dollar.
The environmental watchdog noted that the volume of gas flared from the offshore segment of the industry in January and February, contributed 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere, with a power generation potential of 2,200 Gigawatts hour while the companies that flared the gas were liable for penalties of $44.7 million (N67.944 billion).
Under the same period in 2024, the oil and gas firms operating offshore flared 29.2 BSCF of gas; valued at $102.3 million (N155.496 billion); with penalties payable of $58.4 (N88.768 billion); carbon dioxide emissions of 1.6 million tonnes and power generation potential of 2,900 GWh.
The agency explained that the total 71.0 BSCF of gas flared by the oil and gas companies in the two months of 2025 contributed 3.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere; and had potential of generating 7,100 Gigawatts/hour of electricity.
“The defaulting companies were liable for penalties payment of $141.9 million, about N215.688 billion,” the report stated.
NOSDRA reported that the offending companies flared gas from Oil Mining Leases, OMLs, 04, 05, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 22, 28, 23, 24, 38, 40, 42, 43, 72, 49, 54, 90, 95, 67, 70, 104, 59, 99, 100, 101, 102 and Oil Prospecting Licences, OPLs, 222, 316 and 306, among others.
The agency listed the offending companies as Shell Petroleum, Development Company (SPDC), Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Chevron Nigeria, Mobil Oil, Elf Petroleum Nigeria, Nigeria Agip Oilo Company (NAOC), Addax Petroleum, Texaco Overseas (Nigeria), Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria, Allied Energy Resources, Ultramar Petroleum, Atlas Petroleum, Cromwell, Afric Oil and Marketing, Famfa Oil, Moni Pulo, and South Atlantic Petroleum, among others.
…Home-grown energy transition
Meanwhile, the minister, in his keynote address at the Global South Peer Learning Workshop on Country Platforms for Climate Action and Just Energy Transition, Tuesday in Abuja, insisted that the country was diligently implementing its Energy Transition Plan (ETP) to address the challenge.
“Our Energy Transition Plan (ETP) is a home-grown, data-backed strategy for achieving net-zero emissions fairly and equitably by 2060,” he told the participants, explaining that the plan, unveiled in 2022, had become the country’s national policy, providing a framework that aligns climate ambition with the country’s development needs.
He stated that the country had prioritised five sectors, including power, transport, cooking, oil and gas, and industry, which, according to him, “account for about 65% of Nigeria’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
He added that universal energy access, poverty reduction, economic growth, and job creation remained the nation’s goals.
Bagudu noted that Nigeria’s energy transition plan is multifaceted, targeting emission reductions and enhancing sustainability across all key economic sectors.
He said: “Decarbonising power is central to our strategy in the power sector. Nigeria plans to aggressively expand its generation capacity through renewable sources, such as solar and wind, while strengthening its national grid and distribution networks.
“The transport sector’s priority is to reduce emissions through a two-pronged strategy that involves shifting to cleaner fuels and vehicles while expanding mass transit. Nigeria is promoting Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Electric Vehicles (EVS) to replace gasoline and diesel in road transport.”
Bagudu pointed out that the Presidential CNG Initiative was launched to convert mass transit vehicles to run on CNG, utilising gas reserves to reduce tailpipe emissions and lower fuel costs.
He informed the audience that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu unveiled a bold initiative to launch an initial fleet of 100 electric buses in Nigeria’s major cities, while prioritising cooking and household energy to facilitate the swift replacement of traditional firewood, kerosene, and charcoal.
The minister added that the federal government had significantly increased access to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), distributed LPG cylinders and stoves, and implemented policies to ensure LPG was affordable and available.
Bagudu emphasised that Nigeria had undertaken significant policy and regulatory reforms to create an enabling environment for its climate goals.
He cited the “Climate Change Act of 2021” as landmark legislation that provides a legal framework for climate action across all sectors.
The Act, the minister stated, establishes systems to incorporate climate considerations into national planning and outlines five-year carbon budgets with annual emissions targets.
“It (the Act) also establishes the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) to oversee the implementation of climate policies and ensure that the country stays on track toward the net-zero 2060 target.
“Additionally, Nigeria has updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, enhancing the targets and aligning them with the net-zero vision. For instance, Nigeria enacted the Electricity Act 2023 in the power sector, liberalising the electricity market and allowing state governments and private investors to generate, transmit, and distribute power.
“In the oil and gas sector, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 overhauled the regulatory framework for the industry. The PIA includes provisions that support the country’s climate objectives; for example, it increased penalties for gas flaring and requires companies to develop gas utilisation plans, encouraging investments in gas processing facilities that support a transition fuel strategy, the establishment of the Host Communities Fund that can finance local environmental and development projects, and aid just transition efforts in oil-producing regions,” Bagudu added.
The minister stated that Nigeria had established innovative institutional mechanisms to cohesively drive its Energy Transition Plan and climate agenda.
“The National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) is at the apex. This is complemented by the Energy Transition Inter-Ministerial Working Group, a high-level body implementing the Energy Transition Plan (ETP),” he explained.
Bagudu pointed out that Nigeria recognised climate change as a global phenomenon that no country can tackle alone, emphasising that the government had been active on the international stage, championing the interests of the Global South and forging partnerships for climate action.
“Nigeria’s diplomacy is guided by the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities,’ acknowledging that while all nations must act on climate, developed countries should support developing nations with finance and technology,” he added.
He stated that Nigeria strongly supported the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund at COP27 to assist vulnerable countries in mitigating the impacts of climate-related disasters.