You know how it feels when you're trying to save energy, but it's hard because the system is flawed? That's what's happening in Africa. Nigeria, Libya, and Algeria, some of the continent's biggest gas producers, flared over 25 billion cubic meters of gas in 2025, according to a new report.

The World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Tracker, which monitors flaring globally, found that these three countries were among the worst offenders, despite widespread power shortages and efforts to expand domestic gas use. And it's not just them – Russia and Iran also flared a lot of gas, pushing global flaring to a six-year high.

Eniola Akinkuotu, a spokesperson for Nigeria's upstream regulator, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said the country is committed to ending routine flaring by 2030. But it's going to be a tough road ahead.

The World Bank estimates that it would take around $70 billion to $100 billion to curb global flaring, which is less than twice the annual value of gas being wasted. Zubin Bamji, the manager of the World Bank's Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership, said that the technologies and approaches needed to capture and utilize associated gas are well-established, but infrastructure investment and regulatory enforcement are often lagging.

The situation is dire, and it's getting worse. Flaring climbed for the third consecutive year, wasting an estimated $54 billion worth of gas and outpacing growth in global oil production. The World Bank's Demetrios Papathanasiou, the global director for energy, said that at a time when many countries are struggling to increase affordable and reliable energy, the economic development costs of continued flaring are simply too high.

Russia, Iran, and Iraq together flared about 84 billion cubic meters of gas in 2025, nearly half of the global total. The energy ministries in the three countries declined to comment, but a Russian newspaper reported that Russia flared 25.1 billion cubic meters of associated gas, an increase of 6.8% compared with 2024.

So why is this happening? Well, it's because gas utilization is not yet integrated as a core part of oil production planning in many oil-producing countries. Infrastructure investment and regulatory enforcement are often lagging, making it harder to curb flaring.

But there is hope. The World Bank is working with countries to establish gas utilization as a core part of oil production planning. And there are already some successes – for example, Norway has reduced its flaring significantly over the past decade.

The situation is dire, but it's not hopeless. With the right investment and regulations, it's possible to curb flaring and reduce waste.

Key Facts:

  • Nigeria, Libya, and Algeria flared over 25 billion cubic meters of gas in 2025.
  • Global flaring rose to a six-year high in 2025, driven by increases in Russia and Iran.
  • The World Bank estimates that it would take around $70 billion to $100 billion to curb global flaring.
  • Flaring climbed for the third consecutive year, wasting an estimated $54 billion worth of gas.
  • Russia, Iran, and Iraq together flared about 84 billion cubic meters of gas in 2025.
  • The World Bank is working with countries to establish gas utilization as a core part of oil production planning.