Investigation: How Gas Flares Harm Lives and Fail Regulations in Nigeria's Oil Fields

The journey to Akata starts where the road ends. From Atabrikang, a visitor takes a speedboat and travels for about 30 minutes through winding waterways before reaching the fishing community in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The community is nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Qua Iboe River. For many years, the water provided for almost everyone living here.

Monday George still remembers those days. As a young fisherman in the early 2000s, he focused on catching octopus. The shallow coastal waters were bountiful, and the market was thriving.

“There was plenty,” he recalled. “We caught octopus regularly, and we had different types of fish. Back then, if you worked hard, fishing could take care of your family, and you could consider yourself rich.”

His fishing income allowed him to marry young and support his growing family. By 2010, he contributed N40,000 every week to a local thrift scheme.

“At that time, that was serious money.” He laughs today when he thinks of it. The laughter carries sadness, as it feels like a distant memory.

George said things began to change around 2012. Fish catches started to drop. The water felt warmer. Fish that used to be plentiful started disappearing.

“We noticed that the water was no longer as cold as before. The octopus reduced first. Then other fish started disappearing,” he said.

Now, many fishermen return home with little or nothing. “It is only bonga that we catch easily now. The bigger fish have moved farther away,” Mr George said.

Reaching those fishing spots needs more fuel, bigger boats, and more risk.

Many, including Mr George, cannot afford it anymore. He no longer contributes to any thrift scheme.

His main focus is feeding his four children. “There are days I go out and come back with nothing.”

What is happening in Akata is closely tied to methane. The warming waters, failing catches, and eroding shoreline show a local climate crisis accelerated by methane. This gas leaks from oil and gas operations surrounding these communities.

“For communities living near oil and gas facilities, methane is not just a climate issue,” said Tengi George-Ikoli, Country Manager for Nigeria at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). “It relates to the air they breathe, health risks, farmland quality, fishing waters, and their daily lives amid extraction activities.”

Dangers in the Search for Fish

For some fishermen, the decline in catches in shallow waters has pushed them to deeper Atlantic waters. This decision has cost one family greatly.

Papa Sam struggles to talk about his older brother, Udeme. Both men fished in coastal waters until Udeme decided to dive deeper. “He said he was tired since the fish near us were no longer enough,” Papa Sam recalled.

In November 2024, Udeme started fishing farther out. His catches improved, and his family began to recover financially.

But in March 2025, he died while fishing offshore. “He wanted to survive,” his brother said, his voice low and shaky as he fought back tears.

“Now I am taking care of his six children.”

Where Homes Once Stood

In Akata, the environmental changes are clear beyond just unproductive water for the community members, who mainly rely on fishing.

Near the shoreline, a ruined structure stands where the sea tides have swept it away. Residents say it was once the health centre.

A damaged water-tank stand still rises above the rubble. Community members say both structures used to be safe within the village. Now the Atlantic surrounds them.

Gloria Thomas, a princess of the community, walked PREMIUM TIMES through the area.

She pointed to open water. “People lived there. Hundreds of houses were there,” she said.

The ocean has taken them, and residents say severe coastal erosion and rising sea levels sped up around 2013.

The destruction has affected more than housing. The community lost its only health centre and a private school.

Now, many children are out of school because their parents cannot afford a daily one-hour boat ride to school.

PREMIUM TIMES reported a high rate of out-of-school children in Akwa Ibom State.

In Akata, a medical emergency starts with a 30-minute boat trip. Residents must take the water route before continuing by road to reach healthcare.

“We have lost many lives, especially pregnant women,” Ms Thomas said.

The ocean, driven by climate change, has also split what was once a single community into two parts now called Akata I and Akata II.

Land is scarce, leading to more disputes. Many families unable to cope have left.

“There is hardly anywhere to farm now. Some people had no option except to relocate,” she said.

Flares in the Distance

Akata is located in waters with major oil and gas assets. These include OMLs 67, 68, 70, and 104, which Seplat Energy recently acquired from Mobil Producing Nigeria. Oil production here started in 1970.

For decades, gas has been flared during oil operations.

Flaring is a visible sign of gas handling, but it is not the only way gas is managed. When gas is flared well, most methane burns off and turns into carbon dioxide. But when flares burn poorly or when gas leaks before it reaches the flare, raw methane escapes into the atmosphere.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited, flare stacks were visible from several points within the shallow waters.

Across Akata, at the Qua Iboe Terminal in Mkpanak, thick smoke rose from a flare. The smoke was visible from kilometers away.

Residents in Mkpanak told PREMIUM TIMES they can no longer drink rainwater because it is usually polluted with soot.

They reported issues like sore throats, eye irritation, chest discomfort, and breathing problems.

Many community members said they often experience itchy eyes, constant coughs, and breathlessness, especially when flaring is intense.

“I use cotton wool to clean my nose from time to time. Yet, the soot I bring out is terrible. Others experience the same. As a result of the flare, chest pains are common here,” Aniebiet Nathaniel, who runs a shop across the QIT, said.

PREMIUM TIMES recently reported how gas flaring has turned some oil communities in Akwa Ibom into furnaces.

To understand these claims better, PREMIUM TIMES visited the primary healthcare facility serving the Mkpanak community.

At the health centre, the officer-in-charge, Hope Samuel, said respiratory issues are common among patients.

“Each month, we see about four to six cases of breathing difficulties and tightness in the chest,” Ms Samuel said.

“Those are only the patients who come here. Many others treat themselves at home and do not report to the health facility.”

Data from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency’s gas-flare tracker shows numerous flare locations scattered across the waters linked to Akwa Ibom’s coastline.

The data also showed that the former Mobil assets flared about 130.7 million standard cubic feet of gas from 2021 to 2023.

But Akata’s fishers and residents at Mkpanak are surrounded by more than one operator.

Beyond the former Mobil assets now owned by Seplat Energy, the waters also host OML 99 and OML 100, managed by TotalEnergies. Community members pointed to two offshore facilities they said belong to the company. PREMIUM TIMES could not verify ownership from the beach.

Yet what communities see are the flames, smoke, and soot. It is the only visible part of the emissions story. The most harmful emissions are invisible.

Scientists have warned about methane, an unseen greenhouse gas released through venting, leaks, equipment failures, and incomplete combustion during flaring.

Methane traps more than 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide over 20 years, and unlike smoke from a flare stack, it often escapes unnoticed.

Since it is not visible, methane has avoided the attention that flaring draws.

But this is changing. “Methane is one of the strongest greenhouse gases driving warming,” said Ms George-Ikoli. “It is also becoming an economic issue.

“New international rules, including emerging methane requirements in major export markets like the European Union, mean countries and companies will be judged not only on what they produce but on how they produce it.”

Unlike some operators, TotalEnergies has shared its methane-reduction and gas-flaring commitments.

On its website and in public statements, the company claims it ended routine flaring on OML 100 in December 2023 and achieved zero routine flaring across its upstream operations in Nigeria.

The company also says it has used its Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA), a drone-mounted tool to spot and measure methane emissions from oil and gas operations.

Before the COP28 climate summit, TotalEnergies announced a partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to carry out methane-detection campaigns using this technology at facilities in Nigeria. The company described this effort as a way to find leaks, improve emissions tracking, and reduce methane releases.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited in early June, no visible flare was seen from the offshore facilities identified by residents as belonging to TotalEnergies, unlike flare activity elsewhere in the region.

But many questions remain unanswered.

This newspaper asked TotalEnergies for details on methane emissions found through AUSEA surveys in Nigeria. We wanted to know if the technology found any unknown leaks, venting points, or emission sources; what amounts of methane were measured; if the findings were different from regular emissions data; any corrective actions taken after the surveys; and whether the results were shared with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

PREMIUM TIMES also requested copies or summaries of independent verification reports related to greenhouse gas emissions from OMLs 99 and 100 and whether the company plans to share methane-monitoring results publicly.

TotalEnergies did not respond to our request.

Their lack of response does not invalidate the company’s stated commitments. But without sharing data, survey results, verification reports, or methane inventories, it is hard to evaluate the effectiveness of those commitments in waters where communities like Akata face a warming climate.

Concerns raised here are also heard 280 kilometers from Akata and Mkpanak.

Seven Years Without a Child

More than 280 kilometers away in the Ogboinbiri community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, another resident fears something invisible.

Two flare stacks burn constantly near the community. Their glow fills the night sky.

Getting to Ogboinbiri requires a long trip through creeks and river channels. The community lies in OML 63, one of the former Nigerian Agip Oil Company assets now owned by Oando Energy Resources.

According to Oando, OML 63 has the second-largest reserves in its portfolio. It has several producing fields developed since exploration began in the early 1970s. Aging, corked oil wells are visible near the community entrance. PREMIUM TIMES counted five.

Ebieredi Daniel lives about a 10-minute walk from the production site with the two flare stacks. Ms Daniel has been married for seven years but has never conceived.

“There was pressure at the beginning since people talk when a woman does not have children,” she said.

Medical tests at various clinics always showed hormonal imbalance.

Initially, doctors did not tell her that gas flaring or methane emissions from the oil site caused her condition. But when she talked about her environment, they suggested it could worsen her issue.

Research has linked environmental pollutants from oil and gas activities to reproductive health problems.

A 2025 Oxford Academic review on climate change and reproductive health noted that endocrine-disrupting chemicals can affect hormone signaling, fertility, and reproductive development in various ways.

For women like Ms Daniel, these findings hit home. But one experience haunts her.

A friend with similar reproductive issues left the community and soon became pregnant.

“She called me and said she was six months pregnant. I pray one day I can also leave,” Ms Daniel said.

We Keep Hearing the Same Thing - Hormonal Imbalance

Faithful Fineman, who lives nearby, said women in Ogboinbiri often talk about fertility problems.

Some have had multiple miscarriages, while others struggle to conceive. “The complaint we keep hearing is hormonal imbalance. When women go to hospitals, that is what many of them are told. But when they leave and stay elsewhere, they give birth,” she said.

She recalls when local waters provided an important income source. Water snails used to thrive in nearby creeks, and women harvested them in large amounts to sell in markets.

Now, they are getting harder to find. “We used to get them easily, but now we go farther away,” she said.

Even when snails are brought back from other areas, many die before market day. “The environment is hotter now,” she said.

For families already struggling with lost livelihoods, every loss counts.

Farmlands Left Behind

Ebi Aaron, a cocoyam farmer in Ogboinbiri, no longer farms the land inherited from his father. He says the heat has changed everything.

Years ago, cocoyam thrived near the community, but now he rents farmland elsewhere, which adds to his expenses. “I have seven children, and when you add my wife and me, we are nine people,” he said.

The extra travel, rent, and labor have become part of daily survival. “The stress has made me look older than my age,” Mr Aaron said.

Similar concerns echo in other parts of Bayelsa.

Under the Glow of Fire

In Obunagha community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa, residents live close to facilities in OML 28, an asset once operated by Shell and now managed by Renaissance Africa Energy, following an acquisition in 2025.

At night, gas flares light up the sky above the community. Braibi Jack, a single mother of three, complains that buying clean water eats up a big chunk of her salary.

“The rainwater here is always black because of the gas flare. We can’t use it for washing, cooking, or drinking. So, each day, I spend at least N800 on water. Multiply that by 30 days. Is that good for someone whose salary is N40,000 a month?” she asked.

For Winner Eneni, a major visible effect is the quick decay of roofing sheets.

“If you don’t change the roof within five or six years, it starts leaking,” he said.

“The flare damages it.” He worries about what prolonged exposure could mean for people's health.

“If it can ruin iron this fast, imagine what it is doing to people breathing it every day. The heat alone causes sleepless nights and other skin discomfort.”

In Rumuekpe in Rivers State, the flare has disappeared, but the question remains: where did the gas go?

Rumuekpe shows what residents say happens when flaring and other oil operations stop.

The community, located within OML 22, had facilities where flaring happened for years. When PREMIUM TIMES visited in April, the flare stack was no longer burning, and grass covered areas that residents said were once bare from intense heat.

For farmer Willicent Obio, the change has been immediate.

Before, he rented farmland in neighboring communities because crops struggled near the flare, but now he farms at home again. “You can see the difference yourself,” he said.

Nearby, Caroline Elems, a Rumuekpe resident, said nights have become easier and people sleep better. She added that farm yields have improved, and even fish are returning to local waters.

“Before, everything suffered. The crops would dry up,” she said.

Now cassava grows where many residents had long stopped planting. Fishermen have begun setting traps in wetlands that had become mostly unproductive.

“The fish are coming back. Even some places that looked dead before are alive again,” she said. “We do not need a scientific report to tell us there was a problem.”

For residents, the end of the flare has been a huge relief. But from a methane point of view, the most crucial question is what happened to the gas that was once burned. If the gas is now captured and used, both flaring and methane emissions have been reduced. But if a flare is simply turned off while the gas escapes unburned, methane emissions can actually rise because a flare changes most methane into less harmful carbon dioxide. Without monitoring data at the site, the visible improvements residents see cannot confirm that methane emissions have decreased.

Nigeria’s Methane Promises

Nigeria has set some of the most ambitious methane-reduction goals in Africa.

These goals exist alongside another aim. “Nigeria is currently pursuing two ambitions at once,” Ms George-Ikoli said. “On one hand, we want to increase gas production and make gas a key part of our economic and energy future. On the other hand, we have committed to reducing methane emissions, stopping routine gas flaring, and supporting global climate goals.”

The challenge, she said, “is whether these ambitions can coexist, and at what cost if they cannot.”

The country is a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge and has promised to end routine gas flaring by 2030.

Under its updated Nationally Determined Contributions sent to the United Nations climate framework, Nigeria also plans to cut methane emissions from oil and gas operations by a significant amount.

The target is a 60 percent reduction in methane emissions from the sector between 2031 and 2035 and a 95 percent reduction in fugitive methane emissions by 2050.

To support these targets, the NUPRC issued the Guidelines for the Management of Methane and Greenhouse Gases in the Upstream Oil and Gas Sector in 2022 and followed up with the Gas Flaring, Venting and Methane Emissions (Prevention of Waste and Pollution) Regulations, 2023.

These regulations require operators to keep methane-emission records, set up leak detection and repair programs, submit data on fugitive methane emissions, maintain daily flaring and venting logs, and create plans to eliminate routine flaring.

Yet, nearly three years after the regulations took effect, the regulator has acknowledged serious issues with measuring and reporting methane.

On April 11, NUPRC said it had noticed “technical capacity limitations and infrastructural MRV gaps” during the implementation of the methane guidelines.

MRV means measurement, reporting, and verification systems used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions.

The commission reported that these gaps have hindered implementation and led it to organize workshops and guidance sessions to improve operators’ ability to measure and report methane emissions accurately.

To tackle the problem, NUPRC ordered operators to use standardized templates for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Management Plans and emissions inventories. It also told companies to report emissions using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 2 methodology starting in the third quarter of 2026 and to switch fully to Tier 3 systems by January 2027.

This directive is crucial because it highlights a key challenge facing methane regulation in Nigeria: many emissions remain estimates rather than actual measurements.

For NRGI, the gap between rules and reality is central to the issue.

“Progress on paper is not the same as actual progress,” Ms George-Ikoli said. “The real test lies in implementation. Are commitments being fulfilled? Are emissions being measured accurately? Are regulations being enforced consistently? And most importantly, do the experiences of affected communities influence the decisions being made?”

The Petroleum Industry Act goes further. It prohibits routine flaring and venting and requires operators to submit plans showing how emissions will be reduced and eventually eliminated.

The Gas Flaring, Venting and Methane Emissions (Prevention of Waste and Pollution) Regulations, 2023, set detailed compliance obligations.

Among other requirements, operators must submit Flare Elimination and Monetisation Plans, keep Fugitive Methane Emission Data records, prepare methane inventories, maintain daily flaring logs, and implement leak-detection programs.

The regulations also tie approved plans to enforceable implementation milestones.

Among the companies examined in this investigation, TotalEnergies was the only operator to publicly share methane-monitoring initiatives and specific commitments related to routine flaring and methane reduction in Nigeria.

A review of public disclosures, company websites, and available sustainability documents did not find similar asset-specific methane-reduction commitments from Seplat Energy or Renaissance Africa Energy for the operations in this investigation.

This distinction makes the lack of a response more important. Public commitments are essential. But evidence of progress is even more vital.

Without strong monitoring systems, independent verification, and transparent disclosures, it is hard for regulators, communities, and the public to know how much methane is being released, where it is coming from, and if reduction targets are being met.

These gaps were central to PREMIUM TIMES’ inquiries to oil companies and regulators.

Unanswered Questions

To find out if these obligations are being met, PREMIUM TIMES asked Seplat Energy, Oando, Renaissance Africa Energy, TotalEnergies, and NUPRC for detailed information.

The newspaper requested methane-emission records, Fugitive Methane Emission Data reports, yearly gas-flaring volumes, flare-efficiency data, methane-slip estimates, leak-detection reports, flare-elimination plans, milestone agreements, environmental assessments, and regulatory compliance records.

Seplat was specifically asked to explain why methane emissions reported by the former Mobil assets increased from 223.6 million metric tonnes of CH₄ in 2022 to 256.3 million metric tonnes in 2023, according to Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative disclosures.

The company was also asked how much of those emissions came from fugitive leaks, venting, and flaring, and what measurable reductions had been achieved since then.

Oando and Renaissance were asked to provide proof of compliance with methane-monitoring, reporting, and flare-reduction requirements at the assets they control.

NUPRC was asked if operators submitted mandatory flare-elimination plans, executed milestone agreements, maintained methane inventories, and complied with reporting obligations under the 2023 regulations.

The regulator was also asked to share enforcement actions, sanctions, compliance notices, and operator-specific performance data.

None of the companies responded by the time this report was filed. NUPRC also did not reply.

Their silence leaves many questions unanswered about methane emissions, transparency, accountability, and compliance with regulations meant to protect communities near Nigeria’s oil wealth. Some of this gap is being filled outside the industry. The Emissions Monitoring and Accountability Tool (EMAT), created by NRGI and its partners, combines emissions, flaring, and disclosure data from Nigeria’s oil and gas operators to help journalists, regulators, and citizens hold companies accountable.

The human impacts of these emissions are highlighted in “Flaring Lives: The Human Cost of Methane Emissions in the Niger Delta,” a 16-minute documentary co-produced by Policy Alert and We The People, with support from NRGI.

Through the voices and experiences of affected communities, the documentary reveals the severe health, environmental, and livelihood effects of methane emissions and routine gas flaring, stressing the urgent need for stronger corporate accountability, regulatory enforcement, and effective action to protect vulnerable populations.