Nigeria’s Gas Output Rises By 8% To 2.706trn Scf

Total gas production for the year ended December 2025 rose by nearly 8 per cent or 198 billion Standard Cubic Feet (Scf), to 2.706 trillion standard cubic feet, from 2.508 trillion standard cubic feet in 2024.

The development was revealed in the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Gas Production Status Reports for 2025.

The development underscores steady but measured growth in upstream gas supply despite an equal increase in gas flaring from 192.9 billion scf in 2024 to 204.0 billion scf in 2025, an increase of 11.1 billion scf or 5.8 per cent.

A comparison of the commission’s Gas Production Status Reports for 2024 and 2025 revealed that in 2024, associated gas production stood at 1.441 trillion scf, accounting for about 57.4 per cent of total gas output.

On the other hand, non-associated gas contributed 1.068 trillion scf, or 42.6 per cent of production. By 2025, associated gas rose marginally to 1.456 trillion scf, while non-associated gas increased more strongly to 1.250 trillion scf.

This means associated gas production grew by 15.3 billion scf, a rise of just 1.1 per cent, whereas non-associated gas expanded by 182.4 billion scf, representing a much stronger 17.1 per cent increase.

As a result, non-associated gas accounted for roughly 46.2 per cent of total gas production in 2025, up from 42.6 per cent the previous year, confirming a gradual structural shift towards gas fields not directly linked to crude oil output.

The data also showed that gas utilisation moved broadly in line with production, with total gas utilised increasing from 2.313 trillion scf in 2024 to 2.500 trillion scf in 2025. The increase of 186.9 billion scf represents an 8.1 per cent growth.

In 2024, utilised gas represented about 92.2 per cent of total production.

By 2025, this ratio jumped to 92.4 per cent, largely absorbed by domestic consumption, exports, and other uses rather than being lost to inefficiencies.

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Despite this improvement, gas flaring also increased in absolute terms; total gas flared rose from 192.9 billion scf in 2024 to 204.0 billion scf in 2025, an increase of 11.1 billion scf or 5.8 per cent.

Gas shrinkage fell from 2.464 billion scf in 2024 to 2.121 billion scf in 2025, a reduction of roughly 14 per cent, and reinforcing the view that processing and transportation losses remain a very small fraction of Nigeria’s gas balance.

According to the NUPRC, nearly 90 per cent of the increase in total gas production between 2024 and 2025 came from non-associated gas.

However, the fact that flaring volumes still rose by almost 6 per cent in absolute terms highlighted the continuing challenge of fully monetising incremental gas, even as efficiency improves on paper.

The additional 197.7 billion scf produced in 2025 was largely matched by an extra 186.9 billion scf of utilised gas, leaving only a narrow gap that translated into higher flaring volumes.

Before the development, the federal government stated that it had increased its gas production target to 12 billion cubic feet of gas production by 2030.

In November last year, the FG reiterated that Nigeria’s ‘Decade of Gas’ programme spanning 2021-2030 had so far unlocked about 215 strategic upstream and midstream gas projects worth over $8 billion investments in 18 months, with an additional $20 billion expected in the coming years.