Nigeria's Gas Flaring Laws Fail to Stop Waste
Nigeria's Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) legally prohibits gas flaring but fails to stop it due to weak enforcement. The law mandates gas utilisation plans and penalties for flaring, yet penalties remain cheaper than compliance costs. Regulatory discretion allows exemptions, and transparency is lacking. Five solutions include indexing penalties to gas prices, mandating transparent flaring dashboards, and linking gas utilisation to production quotas. Without enforcement alignment, flared gas continues to waste resources while power plants lack feedstock.