Nigeria’s efforts to end routine gas flaring by 2030 could face financing challenges as oil and gas companies seek funds to execute projects required to capture and commercialise gas currently being burned at production sites.
Ibrahim Illo, a senior manager in the Sustainability, Health, Safety and Environment Department of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), disclosed this in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES at the ongoing COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye.
Mr Illo said that although the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provides mechanisms to discourage gas flaring and promote the commercial use of associated gas, financing remains a challenge for operators seeking to execute gas utilisation projects.
“Some of the operating companies are also making an effort to see how they can source funds to execute this project,” he said.
“Oil and gas projects are not cheap projects; you need funding.”
He attributed the financing difficulty partly to the global energy transition, which he said was constraining funding for fossil fuel projects.
Mr Illo said the NUPRC was participating in international climate discussions, including COP31, to present Nigeria’s initiatives and government commitments and explore opportunities for collaboration to support emissions reduction.
The financing concerns come amid a deterioration in Nigeria’s recent gas-flaring performance.
The World Bank’s 2025 Global Gas Flaring Tracker reported that Nigeria’s gas flaring increased by…
