The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is eyeing as much as 3 gigawatts (GW) of new electricity generation and around $2 billion of investments from the commercialisation of gas flares under the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Program (NGFCP).
This was stated by the NUPRC Commission Chief Executive, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, at the NUPRC/PETAN Energy Evolution Exchange Spotlight at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2026 in Houston, Texas.
“We are currently working on turning those flares into around 3 gigawatts of electricity. “This project is ongoing,” Eyesan said.
She said the initiative is part of a broader strategy to end routine gas flaring and turn wasted resources into economic value, noting that Nigeria is moving from punishing companies for flaring to actively harnessing the resource through structured programs that assign flare sites to capable investors.
“We are not satisfied only with the fines that companies pay for flaring. We are committed to commercialisation and ending flaring. “The program is meant to concession flare sites to companies with the technical capacity to turn them into value,” she said.
The NGFCP is anticipated to recover 250 to 300 million standard cubic feet per day of currently flared gas, save around 6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and provide more than 100,000 jobs.
The plant is also anticipated to produce 170,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas a year, providing around 1.4 million families with cleaner cooking fuel.
In December 2025, NUPRC, under the initiative, awarded permits to 28 businesses after a competitive bidding process, which distributed 49 flare sites to 42 initial bidders. The restructuring was done following the COVID-19 period and after the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Of the 43 flare gas sites identified for award initially, 27 have been awarded thus far and implementation efforts are underway.
But Eyesan sternly warned grantees that the Commission will perform evaluation one year following each award to see if sufficient progress has been accomplished.
“Where there is insufficient progress we will take appropriate regulatory action, including revocation of the award where necessary,” she said.
The NUPRC said Nigeria now has more than 215 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proved gas reserves and an anticipated total resource base of around 600 TCF that provides a solid basis for power generation, industrialisation, exports and overall economic development.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the implementation of Nigeria gas commercialisation program must be deliberate and proactive to guarantee the country meet its 2030 aim of ending routine gas flaring.
“The main aim is to add value to our gas resources by turning them into essential products and services. “The key is to move away from polluting the environment and use resources productively,” the minister said.
“The permits are a major milestone, but the next steps require rapid advances,” an official of the NGFCP said.
“The real work begins now,” the official said. “This program will provide economic, industrial and environmental value while also reinforcing Nigeria’s energy transition.
The program complements Nigeria’s broader Energy Transition Plan by turning flared gas from a potential environmental hazard into a resource for economic development.
A range of partners have helped including Power Africa, KPMG, the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction initiative, USAID and financial institutions.
In 2025, Nigeria burnt 323 billion standard cubic feet of gas, with an estimated value of $1.1 billion, the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA) said. This highlights the economic and environmental relevance of the commercialisation project.
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