In line with the nation’s renewed focus on harnessing and commercialising its gas resources, the flaring or burning of the commodity which was the norm in the past, has now reduced by over 70 per cent in the last 10 years, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) has revealed. Analysis of the ASB for 2020 showed that from a high of 25.79 per cent of total gas produced being flared in 2011, the number as of 2020 markedly reduced to 7.08 per cent of total gas produced. The 10-year trend analysis revealed that in 2012, the flared gas accounted for 22.82 per cent; it was 17.57 per cent in 2013, 11.50 per cent in 2014, and 11.65 per cent in 2015. The downward trend continued in 2016 when the figure fell to 11.25 per cent, but was however slightly distorted when it increased to 12.33 in 2017, continued on the downward slope in 2018, hitting 9.94 per cent, 8.53 per cent in 2019 and 7.08 per cent in 2020. The latest data agrees with a recent World Bank report obtained by THISDAY under the Global Gas Flaring Tracker, which also indicated that gas flaring reduced by 70 per cent within a 15-year period in Nigeria.
