Nigeria: Nigeria's First Methane Disclosure Raises Questions Over Repeated Figures, Missing Data

What the report says

Nigeria has published its first company-level greenhouse gas disclosure for the oil and gas sector, but a Premium Times analysis of the data says the new baseline contains repeated figures, missing methane entries and inconsistencies in how companies were counted. The disclosure appeared in the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s 2023 oil and gas audit report and is meant to improve transparency for regulators, investors and the public.

The review, using the Emissions Monitoring and Accountability Tool, found several cases where companies reported identical emissions values across different years or across different firms. It also noted that many records in the appendix lacked complete methane information, making it difficult to tell whether blank fields meant no emissions, no submission or no calculation. In some entries, methane was reported only as carbon dioxide equivalent, which limits independent checking of the underlying data.

The article also points to a mismatch in the reported number of companies that filed emissions data. NEITI said 15 of 62 audited companies submitted greenhouse gas information, but the appendix lists more entries than that total and includes at least one company on both the reporting and non-reporting lists. Some records also appear to refer to joint venture interests or assets rather than clearly identified legal entities.

The findings matter because Nigeria has pledged to end routine gas flaring by 2030 and cut fugitive methane emissions from oil and gas operations by 60% by 2031. The report says better documentation, clearer labeling of missing data and public access to original submissions would help strengthen confidence in future disclosures.