By Faridat Salifu
The oil and gas industry released an estimated 389 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2024 due to routine gas flaring, according to a new World Bank report.
The report, released by the Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) partnership, found that global gas flaring rose to 151 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2024, the highest level since 2007.
It said this wasted fuel could have been worth $63 billion at EU import prices, roughly half the investment required to eliminate flaring altogether.
The report identified Russia, Iran, Iraq, the United States, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Mexico and Nigeria as responsible for 75% of all flaring emissions last year.
The World Bank said most of the highest emitters rely heavily on state-owned oil companies and lack effective regulation or enforcement.
Zubin Bamji, GFMR program manager, described the flaring as a missed opportunity to expand energy access and reduce climate impacts.
Environmental experts said the practice, often used to dispose of methane during oil production, reflects a failure of policy, infrastructure, and market incentives.
The International Energy Agency has called for the elimination of all non-emergency flaring by 2030.
According to the report, countries committed to the World Bank’s “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative have reduced flaring intensity by an average of 12% since 2012, while others saw a 25% increase.
The GFMR urged more investment, stronger regulation, and global cooperation to address what it described as “one of the clearest climate and energy security failures” in the fossil fuel sector.
The report noted progress in countries such as Kazakhstan, Angola and Egypt, which have imposed stricter penalties or improved infrastructure to reduce flaring.
