Nigeria, nine others account for 75% of global gas flaring – World Bank

The World Bank said on Nigeria and nine other countries were responsible for 75 percent of global gas flaring in 2021.

The other countries are Algeria, China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mexico, Russia, the United States, and Venezuela.

In a report released on Thursday, the Bretton Wood institution said the 10 countries had held this position consistently for the last 10 years while Mexico, Libya, and China recorded a significant increase in recent years.

In the ranking, Nigeria was rated 7th in flare volume despite a 31 percent reduction between 2012 and 2021.

The World Bank, however, noted that Nigeria’s flare intensity increased by 10 percent in the same period.

The report read: ” Nigeria had made significant progress in flare reduction since observations began, in no small part due to the commissioning and startup of several major projects to recover and export associated gas, including associated gas processing and export via the Bonny liquefied natural gas plant.

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“However, flaring intensity has increased as production has declined over the last 10 years. The satellite data suggests that, while the largest flaring fields have been addressed, there remain many smaller, more disparate fields where flare elimination and gas utilisation is more challenging.”

The Washington-based multilateral institution added that the top 10 flaring countries (on an absolute volume basis) accounted for 75 percent of all gas flaring and 50 percent of global oil production last year.

The issue, according to the report, was not unique to Nigeria and would likely to be experienced by many other oil-producing countries as they advance efforts to eliminate routine flaring.

It added: “When we consider flaring intensity, fragile, conflict-affected, and insecure countries, such as Venezuela, Syria, and Yemen are among the worst performers, flaring more gas per barrel of oil produced than any other country. The intensity perspective also suggests there are opportunities to improve flaring performance in oil-producing countries such as Algeria, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Turkmenistan.

“Considering again the top 10 flaring countries on a volume basis, Russia, Iraq, the United States, Nigeria, and Mexico have all committed to the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative, which commits governments and companies to (a) not routinely flare gas in any new oil field development, and (b) to end routine flaring in existing oil fields as soon as possible and no later than 2030.”

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