The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said it has strengthened its drive to achieve Nigeria’s 60 per cent methane emissions reduction target by 2035 with the handover of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Emission Tracker (NOGIET).
NOGIET is a technology-driven platform designed to improve methane monitoring, reporting and regulatory enforcement in the oil and gas sector.
The platform was formally handed over to the Commission Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, its Head, Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the statement, the Executive Commissioner, Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC), John Tonlagha, who represented Ms Eyesan, said the initiative forms part of the Commission’s efforts to intensify implementation of its 2022 Guidelines for the Management of Fugitive Methane and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Upstream Oil and Gas Sector.
The guidelines require operators to transition from estimation-based to measurement-based emissions reporting by the first quarter of 2027.
Ms Eyesan said the platform aligns with the Commission’s digital transformation agenda and Nigeria’s broader commitment to reducing methane emissions, eliminating routine gas flaring and achieving net-zero emissions by 2060.
“NOGIET integrates satellite-based methane plume detection, regulatory mapping of oil blocks and pipelines, and facility-level emissions measurements to help regulators identify emission hotspots, detect discrepancies in reported data, prioritise inspections and strengthen compliance monitoring,” she said.
She emphasised that the effective integration of NOGIET into the Commission’s regulatory monitoring and data management systems would strengthen the credibility, consistency and reliability of emissions data.
According to the statement, the platform was developed through a partnership involving the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), with financial and technical support from the Global Methane Hub (GMH).
It is designed for use by both the NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), promoting a coordinated approach to methane management across the oil and gas sector.
Ms Eyesan commended the Global Methane Hub for its financial and technical support and SDN for its leadership, coordination and commitment to delivering the initiative.
In his remarks, the Board Chairman of SDN, Inemo Samiama, noted that the platform’s ability to compare satellite observations with facility-level measurements would help regulators identify potential discrepancies and take evidence-based enforcement action.
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“SDN hands over NOGIET in full, front end and back end, at no cost to the Commission. The platform will move from its temporary home at nogiet.ng to the Commission’s own subdomain. Because methane does not stop at the boundary between upstream and downstream, NOGIET is designed as one platform for the whole oil and gas sector.”
What is Methane
Methane is the main component of natural gas, making up roughly 70 to 90 per cent of it. This means that when natural gas leaks, what is mostly released into the air is methane.
Methane is the second most impactful greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO₂). Although it exists in smaller quantities in the atmosphere than CO₂, it traps heat much more effectively.
In simple terms, to “trap heat” means methane prevents some of the sun’s warmth from escaping back into space by absorbing and holding that heat, then releasing it into the atmosphere.
As methane concentrations increase, they intensify the greenhouse effect, contributing to global warming and climate change.
