For a long time, the orange glow from fuel flares has lit up the skies of Umuechem in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State lengthy after sundown.
For 65-year-old Rose Ordu, the flames are greater than a everlasting function of the panorama; they’ve develop into a part of her day by day wrestle.
Standing on her cassava and vegetable farm in April, Ms Ordu pointed to crops she stated no longer develop as they as soon as did. Her farmland, positioned a number of hundred metres from an oil facility operated by Heirs Energies beneath Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, has supported her household for years. She says harvests have steadily declined.
“When I plant vegetables, they don’t grow well because of the heat from the flare. They wither quickly. Even when I apply fertiliser, they are still unhealthy.”
She questioned why the fuel continues to burn whereas the neighborhood stays with out electrical energy for over three years. “They should convert it to electricity instead of wasting it,” she stated.
A PREMIUM TIMES evaluation of Google Earth imagery confirmed the closest residential constructing to be 328 metres from the flare facility.
Ms Ordu’s expertise mirrors complaints heard in lots of oil-producing communities, the place residents say fuel flaring has develop into a everlasting function of life regardless of repeated authorities guarantees to finish the apply.
The legislation that promised reform
Gas flaring has lengthy symbolised the environmental price of oil manufacturing in Nigeria. Besides losing precious pure fuel, the apply releases carbon dioxide, methane and different pollution that contribute to local weather change.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), signed into legislation in August 2021, was anticipated to mark a turning level.
Section 108 of the Act required companies producing pure fuel inside 12 months of the legislation’s efficient date to submit Flare Elimination and Monetisation Plans (FEMP), outlining how they’d finish flaring and commercialise fuel.
In 2023, the regulator, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), strengthened these obligations by way of the Gas Flaring, Venting and Methane Emissions (Prevention of Waste and Pollution) Regulations.
The laws require operators to arrange methane emissions inventories, hold day by day information of fuel flaring and venting, implement Leak Detection and Repair programmes, report fugitive methane emissions and signal binding Milestone Development Agreements with the regulator.
Taken collectively, the Act and the laws created what seemed to be one of many continent’s most formidable authorized frameworks for lowering fuel flaring and methane emissions.
However, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation discovered that whereas the authorized framework imposes detailed compliance obligations on oil and fuel producers, the enforcement stays weak.
Gas flaring and methane emissions proceed in lots of oil-producing communities with little proof that the promised reforms have translated into significant environmental safety.
What PREMIUM TIMES discovered
Over three months, PREMIUM TIMES visited oil-producing communities in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states the place residents reside near services operated by Heirs Energies, Aradel Holdings, Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO) and Frontier Oil.
This newspaper analysed gas-flaring knowledge revealed by the NUPRC, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA). It additionally reviewed the PIA and its implementing laws, examined sustainability stories and methane disclosures, and despatched detailed media enquiries to the companies and the regulator.
The investigation discovered that Nigeria’s authorized framework for ending routine fuel flaring has, to a larger extent, remained unenforced.
Although operators are legally required to get rid of flaring and implement methane-reduction measures, flare volumes rose at a number of oil belongings after the laws took impact.
Some companies didn’t disclose key environmental information requested by PREMIUM TIMES, together with their FEMP, methane inventories and implementation milestones. One operator admitted it had not complied with two main regulatory necessities, but confronted no recognized sanction.
For many host communities, the promise of reform exists solely on paper.
Communities nonetheless ready
About 25 kilometres from Umuechem, one other flare stack burns day and evening in Mbodo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers, the place Heirs Energies additionally operates inside OML 17.
Residents say extended publicity has develop into a part of day by day life. “The impact is obvious on our roofing sheets,” stated Emechukwu Handsome, secretary of the Mbodo Group Host Communities Development Trust. “Because of our closeness to the flare site, our roofs deteriorate faster.”
He additionally recalled a medical outreach organised by Heirs Energies that produced an surprising consequence.
“We set aside one day for eye examinations because we thought only a few people would come. The turnout was more than three times what we expected, and many people could not be attended to,” he stated.
At the neighborhood’s main well being centre, well being employees instructed PREMIUM TIMES that itchy eyes, chest ache, pores and skin rashes and malaria are among the many recurring complaints they obtain. They didn’t straight attribute the diseases to fuel flaring.
Yet, a rising physique of scientific proof lends weight to the issues repeatedly raised by host communities.
A study revealed by the National Library of Medicine recognized eye irritation and chest ache among the many most incessantly reported well being situations in communities uncovered to fuel flaring within the Niger Delta. Another study revealed within the West African Journal of Medicine discovered considerably greater charges of chest ache, respiratory difficulties, pores and skin irritation and eye irritation amongst individuals dwelling near flare websites than these residing farther away.
While the research don’t conclude that each sickness reported by residents is brought about solely by fuel flaring, they strengthen scientific concern that extended publicity to emissions from flare websites poses substantial public well being dangers, notably the place communities are positioned near energetic flare stacks.
Climate pledges, rising emissions
Heirs Energies says on its website that it’s lowering greenhouse fuel emissions by way of fuel commercialisation, off-gas utilisation and the gradual elimination of routine fuel flaring consistent with Nigeria’s local weather aims.
Government knowledge reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES tells a unique story.
An evaluation of NEITI’s 2022 Oil and Gas Industry Report and the NUPRC’s 2023 and 2024 Annual Financial and Operational Performance Reports reveals that fuel flaring from OML 17 elevated in every of the 2 years following 2022.
The sharpest enhance occurred in 2024, when flare volumes rose by 140.3 per cent in contrast with 2023, regardless of the regulatory requirement for operators to implement flare-elimination measures.
The firm’s place amongst Nigeria’s highest flaring operators additionally worsened. In 2023, Heirs Energies ranked sixteenth out of 45 reporting companies. By 2024, it ranked ninth amongst 46 operators.
Methane emissions current an equally troubling image.
According to NEITI’s newest revealed methane inventory, protecting 2023, Heirs Energies reported 217.36 million kilogrammes of methane emissions, the second-highest quantity recorded by any reporting operator within the nation. Only Mobil Producing Nigeria, which operates 4 producing oil mining leases, reported the next determine. Heirs Energies operates a single producing asset.
On 22 June, PREMIUM TIMES despatched an in depth media enquiry to the corporate’s Assistant Vice President for External and Government Relations, Chidimma Ugbojiaku, requesting its flare knowledge, methane stock, Flare Elimination and Monetisation Plan, Milestone Development Agreement with the NUPRC and particulars of its environmental compliance between 2021 and May 2026.
After receiving no response, this newspaper despatched a reminder on 26 July. Four days later, Ms Ugbojiaku acknowledged the enquiry and stated the corporate would reply. As of the time of submitting this report, no response had been acquired.
Law with clear obligations
The Gas Flaring, Venting and Methane Emissions (Prevention of Waste and Pollution) Regulations, 2023 impose a few of Nigeria’s most stringent environmental obligations on oil and fuel producers.
Every producer of pure fuel is required to submit FEMP to the NUPRC, detailing how fuel flaring shall be phased out, related fuel commercialised and greenhouse fuel emissions decreased.
The laws additionally require operators to execute a Milestone Development Agreement with the Commission, keep day by day information of fuel flared and vented, submit month-to-month stories inside 21 days after the tip of every month, set up methane-monitoring programs and implement Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) programmes to detect and repair methane leaks.
The goal was to maneuver Nigeria past amassing flare penalties to driving operators to finish routine fuel flaring.
But authorities knowledge analysed by PREMIUM TIMES reveals that the regulatory ambition has not translated into measurable reductions at a number of producing belongings. In many host communities, flare stacks proceed to burn whereas operators publicly promote their environmental credentials.
Invisible menace
Unlike the flames that dominate the horizon, methane can’t be seen by the bare eye. It usually escapes by way of leaking valves, ageing pipelines, defective compressors, and inefficient fuel flaring and venting, which is the discharge of fuel into the environment with out burning. Although flaring converts a lot of the fuel into carbon dioxide, incomplete combustion permits methane to flee into the environment.
Ndifreke Ekpo, a lecturer in environmental toxicology on the University of Uyo, instructed PREMIUM TIMES that methane emissions pose a critical problem on account of their efficiency.
“It is a very powerful greenhouse gas and also contributes to atmospheric chemical reactions that open holes in the ozone layer,” he stated.
Although emissions might originate from particular person oil-producing communities, Mr Ekpo stated their influence extends far past native boundaries.
“The atmosphere is constantly moving. Greenhouse gases released in one location eventually become part of the global atmosphere.”
Scientists estimate that over 20 years, methane traps greater than 80 occasions as a lot warmth as carbon dioxide, making it one of the vital vital drivers of near-term world warming.
Aradel: Sustainability claims meet questions on the bottom
Hours from Port Harcourt, two flare stacks burn constantly over Ogbele neighborhood in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, the place Aradel Holdings operates Oil Mining Lease (OML) 54. Here, Aradel produces oil and fuel and runs a refinery.
According to Aradel’s 2025 annual report, the “Ogbele field asset has sustained over 20 years of continuous production and remains the cornerstone of the company’s production base.”
The report states that the refinery throughout the asset has grown right into a three-train facility with a capability of 11,000 barrels of oil per day.
Residents who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES stated the flares are answerable for persistent warmth, pores and skin irritation and respiratory difficulties they expertise.
Government information present Aradel isn’t amongst Nigeria’s largest gas-flaring operators. However, an evaluation of NUPRC annual stories signifies that the quantity of fuel flared from OML 54 elevated in every of the years following the introduction of the Gas Flaring, Venting and Methane Emissions (Prevention of Waste and Pollution) Regulations, 2023.
The firm’s methane disclosures elevate concern.
NEITI’s oil and fuel stories reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES present Aradel reported precisely 133.52 million kilogrammes of methane emissions in each 2022 and 2023, an similar determine in successive years.
The newspaper requested an evidence for the similar methane values; copies of the corporate’s FEMP; proof of regulatory approval; its Milestone Development Agreement with the NUPRC; particulars of methane-reduction tasks; Leak Detection and Repair programmes; environmental monitoring stories; and month-to-month gas-flaring logs submitted to the regulator since January 2024.
Aradel had but to supply a written response to the PREMIUM TIMES request as of the time of submitting this report.
On 7 August, Aradel initiated a digital assembly with a PREMIUM TIMES reporter. The assembly included the corporate’s Media and Public Relations Lead, Victoria Humphrey, the corporate’s Communication Strategist, Edafe Onoriode, and the General Manager, Sub-Saharan Opportunities, Tunde Odeyemi.
Mr Odeyemi stated the corporate doesn’t have a FEMP as a result of the corporate had ended routine flaring since 2012. When PREMIUM TIMES insisted that it had seen fuel burning day and evening from the corporate’s two flare stacks inside its Ogbele discipline, Mr Odeyemi stated it was solely a “technical flare that happens anywhere in the world”.
When PREMIUM TIMES referenced Aradel’s 2025 annual report, the place it dedicated to eliminating routine flaring by 2026/2027, and requested the part of the Prevention of Waste and Pollution regulation that exempted some companies from submitting FEMP, the corporate ended the assembly with a promise to furnish PREMIUM TIMES with an in depth response to the enquiry in writing earlier than the tip of the day.
However, regardless of a number of reminders, Aradel has but to reply to the enquiry.
The absence of a substantive response contrasts with Aradel’s public sustainability commitments.
In its 2024 Sustainability Report, the corporate stated it had maintained management in eliminating routine fuel flaring at Ogbele since 2012. It additionally said that it was “poised to achieve a significant milestone by eliminating routine gas flaring at our refinery by the fourth quarter of 2025.”
However, when PREMIUM TIMES visited Ogbele in July, fuel was nonetheless being burnt from the corporate’s two energetic flare stacks.
Aradel’s newest annual report seems to replicate a revised timeline. Rather than reporting the elimination of routine flaring, the corporate says it’s investing in fuel commercialisation tasks anticipated to get rid of routine flaring throughout all its manufacturing hubs between 2026 and 2027.
Sterling Oil: Climate commitments within the mixture of unanswered questions
About 15 kilometres from Ogbele, one other fuel flare burns constantly in Abua/Odual Local Government Area of Rivers.
Residents of the close by Egbolom neighborhood instructed PREMIUM TIMES the warmth turns into extra intense after sundown.
“The nights are the worst,” one resident stated. “You struggle to sleep because of the heat.” Others complained of recurring pores and skin irritation and discomfort, particularly in the course of the dry season.
The facility inflicting the flare is operated by Sterling Oil, considered one of Nigeria’s largest upstream oil producers.
Assessing the corporate’s flaring efficiency, nonetheless, proved troublesome.
Unlike some operators, publicly obtainable authorities stories don’t disaggregate Sterling Oil’s gas-flaring volumes by particular person asset, limiting impartial checks.
To handle that hole, PREMIUM TIMES analysed knowledge from the NOSDRA Gas Flare Tracker, which makes use of satellite tv for pc observations to detect energetic flare websites by way of radiant warmth signatures.
Although the platform doesn’t estimate flare volumes with the precision of manufacturing information, it offers an impartial indicator of flare exercise over time.
The evaluation discovered no proof that flaring declined after 2024, the interval throughout which operators had been anticipated to start implementing accredited FEMP.
The same development emerged about 200 kilometres away in Eastern Obolo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, the place Sterling Oil operates the Utapate discipline.
Commercial manufacturing on the discipline started in 2024, but satellite tv for pc knowledge reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES signifies that flare exercise elevated sharply.
Gas flared within the space rose from 4.9 million commonplace cubic ft (MSCF) in 2024 to eight million MSCF in 2025. By the tip of May 2026, 7.2 million MSCF had already been flared, suggesting the annual determine may surpass the earlier yr’s whole if the development continued.
The enhance occurred regardless of laws requiring operators to progressively get rid of routine fuel flaring.
Corporate pledges, restricted transparency, and a disturbing environmental report
PREMIUM TIMES sought Sterling Oil’s response to those findings.
On 21 June, the newspaper despatched to the corporate a media enquiry requesting its greenhouse fuel emissions knowledge, methane inventories, Flare Elimination and Monetisation Plan, proof of regulatory approval, Milestone Development Agreement and data on measures taken to cut back emissions and monitor environmental impacts in host communities.
After receiving no response, PREMIUM TIMES despatched a reminder on 26 July and made repeated makes an attempt to acquire feedback by way of the corporate’s media consultant in Akwa Ibom, Aniekeme Finbarr.
No response has been acquired as of the time of this report. The silence contrasts with the corporate’s public sustainability commitments.
READ ALSO: INVESTIGATION: Gas flares, poisoned lives, regulatory failures in Nigeria’s oil fields
On its web site, Sterling Oil says it’s dedicated to minimising the environmental influence of its operations by way of accountable power use, emissions discount, and larger reliance on low-carbon power sources.
However, with out entry to the corporate’s emissions knowledge and regulatory compliance information, these commitments can’t be independently assessed.
The lack of transparency is especially vital given Sterling Oil’s latest environmental report.
In June 2025, considered one of its host communities filed a lawsuit towards the corporate over alleged environmental degradation from vented fuel emissions and different air pollution.
Earlier in April that yr, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Akwa Ibom State Government issued an ultimatum to the corporate over alleged illegal land encroachment and blockage of waterways.
Earlier this yr, PREMIUM TIMES reported that residents dwelling close to one of many firm’s flare websites complained of intense warmth and air pollution, with some households abandoning their properties. Media stories additionally documented issues by civil society organisations about extended oil spills in host communities.
Questions have additionally been raised in regards to the firm’s implementation of the PIA.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that though the legislation required operators to ascertain practical Host Community Development Trusts inside a yr of the Act coming into drive in 2021, Sterling Oil solely unveiled a complete wants evaluation for its Akwa Ibom host communities in June 2026.
To environmental advocates, the delayed evaluation and the corporate’s restricted public disclosure on environmental compliance reinforce issues about transparency and regulatory accountability.
Among the 4 companies investigated, solely Frontier Oil, operated by Savannah Energy, offered a substantive response.
‘Silence fuels climate denial’
Environmental advocates say the refusal of Heirs Energies, Aradel and Sterling Oil to reveal info on methane emissions and compliance with anti-gas flaring laws undermines public accountability.
The coordinator of the Peace Point Development Foundation, Umo Isuaikoh, stated the companies’ silence was inconsistent with the transparency anticipated of companies working in communities affected by oil air pollution.
“Methane emissions and gas flaring are matters of public interest. Companies extracting public resources have a duty to disclose the environmental impact of their operations and what they are doing to reduce it,” he stated.
Mr Isuaikoh stated withholding emissions and compliance information makes it troublesome for communities, regulators and buyers to independently assess whether or not operators are assembly their authorized obligations.
According to him, the shortage of disclosure reinforces “a culture of climate denial.”
“Climate denial is not only about rejecting climate science. It also includes withholding information that enables the public to understand pollution and hold polluters accountable.”
Frontier Oil opens its books
Unlike the opposite companies investigated, Frontier Oil Limited offered an in depth response to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiries.
The response provided a uncommon perception into how one operator manages fuel flaring and methane emissions. It additionally uncovered gaps in regulatory enforcement.
Frontier Oil operates the Uquo discipline in Akwa Ibom State, the place fuel is flared in Edo and Uqua Isidoho communities in Esit Eket Local Government Area.
Residents stated the flare has affected farming. Friday Edoho, whose farm is positioned close to the power, stated extreme warmth has decreased cassava yields, worsening the financial hardship his household faces.
Conflicting flare knowledge
Frontier Oil instructed PREMIUM TIMES its fuel flaring declined steadily between 2021 and 2024, however authorities information current a unique image.
An evaluation of NEITI oil and fuel stories, along with NUPRC operational stories, reveals that flare volumes fell in 2023 however rose in 2024 by 59.4 per cent in comparison with the earlier yr, when operators had been anticipated to be implementing flare-reduction measures.
The firm’s methane emissions adopted a unique development. Reported emissions peaked at 40.95 million kilogrammes in 2022 earlier than declining in subsequent years.
Frontier Oil attributed the spike in flare volumes to unusually excessive related fuel manufacturing from a brand new oil properly, which exceeded the processing capability of its compressors and resulted in elevated flaring. The firm stated compressor upgrades, decrease manufacturing, and improved upkeep subsequently decreased emissions.
Startling admission
Frontier Oil additionally acknowledged that it didn’t submit fugitive methane emission stories required beneath the Gas Flaring, Venting and Methane Emissions Regulations between 2021 and May 2026. According to the corporate, regardless of the non-compliance, the NUPRC neither issued a discover of violation nor imposed any sanction.
The laws required operators to submit a Flare Elimination and Monetisation Plan inside six months of the laws being signed in May 2023.
Frontier Oil stated it submitted its plan in 2025, about two years after the deadline, and that it has but to obtain approval from the NUPRC. As a consequence, the corporate stated it has not executed the obligatory Milestone Development Agreement.
It additionally instructed PREMIUM TIMES it acquired no penalty or regulatory directive over the late submission or its failure to file fugitive methane emission stories.
Bigger accountability query
Across Umuechem, Mbodo, Ogbele, Abua/Odual, Eastern Obolo and Esit Eket, residents described related issues, together with extreme warmth, declining farm yields and suspected well being results linked to fuel flaring.
Government knowledge reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES additionally reveals that flare volumes elevated at a number of producing belongings in the course of the interval operators had been anticipated to cut back routine flaring.
Three companies, Heirs Energies, Aradel Holdings and Sterling Oil, failed to supply key environmental information requested by this newspaper. Frontier Oil responded, however its disclosures revealed some obvious regulatory non-compliance that attracted no recognized enforcement motion.
Overall, the findings on this story level to a query greater than the conduct of particular person oil companies. If operators can miss statutory deadlines, fail to submit obligatory environmental stories, and proceed to extend fuel flaring with none recognized regulatory penalties, the place has Nigeria’s enforcement system failed?
Part Two of this investigation examines the function of the NUPRC and the federal authorities, uncovering how regulatory delays, weak oversight and poor enforcement have undermined considered one of Nigeria’s most formidable environmental legal guidelines.
This story is supported by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
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