Nigeria among world’s top 7 gas flaring countries, despite global drop by 5% – World Bank

…Country flared 7.20 bcm in 2020 alone

…Russia, Iraq, Iran are world’s top 3 gas flaring countries

…Top 7 gas flaring nations account 40% of global oil production

…Though world oil production dropped 8%, yet flared enough gas to power SSA

Ben Eguzozie, in Port Harcourt

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, with huge gas deposits in excess of 203 trillion cubic feet (tcf), is listed among world’s top 7 gas flaring countries, according to the World Bank’s latest Gas Flaring Tracker report for 2020. The report focuses on data for 2020.

In 2020 alone, Nigeria flared a total of 7.20 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in 2020 alone, which is 0.63 bcm change from 7.83 bcm in 2019.

According to the World Bank’s Gas Flaring Tracker report 2020, there was a 5 per cent reduction in global gas flaring. In 2019, global gas flare stood at 150 bcm to 142 bcm in 2020.

Though world’s gas flare dropped by 5%, yet the world still flared gas enough to power all of sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank’s report said.

Russia, Europe’s key gas producing country, along with Iraq and neighbouring Iran are the top three countries in the world with highest rates of gas flaring.

Gas flaring is the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction. It takes place due to a range of issues, from market and economic constraints, to a lack of appropriate regulation and political will. The practice results in a range of pollutants released into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, methane and black carbon (soot).

Nigeria comes 7^th on the list behind, USA, Algeria, and Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Rivers State, Nigeria’s oil hub, today suffers from the worst form soot, due mainly to artisanal refining. Without appropriate regulation in the country, the activity has gone on for many years now.

The top seven gas flaring countries in the world contribute a total of 40% of the world oil production each year. Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria, Venezuela, and Nigeria have for the past nine years, maintained their position in the list of top seven gas flaring countries in the world.

The Global Gas Flaring Tracker finds that oil production declined by 8 per cent (from 82 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2019 to 76 million b/d in 2020), while global gas flaring reduced by 5% (from 150 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2019 to 142 bcm in 2020).

Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria, Venezuela and Nigeria remain the top seven gas flaring countries for nine years running. These seven countries produce 40% of the world’s oil each year, but account for roughly two-thirds (65%) of global gas flaring, the World Bank said.

According to the global lender, 2020 was an unprecedented year for the oil and gas industry and a historic time for the world. The COVID-19 pandemic dampened oil demand, prices and production, while oil-dependent countries experienced negative impacts on their revenues and national budgets.

The World Bank’s 2020 Gas Flaring Tracker, a leading global and independent indicator of gas flaring, found that from 2019 to 2020, oil production declined by 8 percent, while gas flaring dropped by 5 percent.

The United States accounted for 70 per cent of the global decline, with gas flaring falling by 32 per cent from 2019 to 2020, due to an 8 per cent drop in oil production, combined with new infrastructure to use gas that would otherwise be flared, the report said.