The Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) has handed over the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Emission Tracker (NOGIET), a digital platform designed to strengthen methane emissions monitoring and regulatory enforcement, to regulatory agencies.
The Board Chairman of SDN, Mr Inemo Samiama, presented the platform to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Samiama described NOGIET as a significant step towards improving environmental accountability and strengthening the monitoring of methane emissions in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
He explained that the platform integrated satellite-based methane detection, regulatory mapping of oil blocks and pipelines, and emissions data obtained directly from facility operators.
According to him, the integration will enable regulators to compare satellite observations with operators’ reports, identify discrepancies, trace emissions to specific facilities and prioritise inspections.
Samiama stressed the importance of methane monitoring, noting that the gas was a major contributor to climate change and required urgent attention from regulatory authorities.
“Methane is one of the most powerful drivers of near-term climate change,” he said.
He explained that over 20 years, a tonne of methane warmed the planet more than 80 times as much as a tonne of carbon dioxide, highlighting the need for effective monitoring and control measures.
Samiama said Nigeria had committed to reducing methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, adding that regulatory agencies had a crucial role to play in achieving the target.
“The Commission sits at the heart of that commitment, and regulators cannot enforce what they cannot see,” he said.
He explained that NOGIET was developed with support from the Global Methane Hub to provide the NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) with a clearer overview of methane emissions across the oil and gas sector.
Samiama said SDN handed over the platform, including its front-end and back-end components, to the commission at no cost.
He added that the platform would be transferred to the commission’s subdomain, while a separate handover would be conducted for NMDPRA to enable both regulatory agencies to access, manage and utilise the system.
Samiama urged the commission to integrate NOGIET into its daily monitoring, inspection and enforcement activities, while ensuring that its data remained updated and the platform adequately secured.
He said SDN hoped that the NUPRC and NMDPRA, alongside the National Council on Climate Change, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Global Methane Hub, would showcase the platform at the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), scheduled for Antalya, Türkiye, in November.
He described the initiative as an opportunity for Nigeria to demonstrate leadership in applying technology to methane monitoring and environmental regulation.
Samiama added that the platform could be expanded in the future to monitor other greenhouse gases, thereby broadening its contribution to environmental protection and climate action.
Also speaking, Capt. John Tonlagha, Executive Commissioner for Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) at NUPRC, commended SDN and the Global Methane Hub for their technical and financial support towards developing the platform.
Tonlagha said NOGIET would strengthen emissions surveillance, help identify emissions hotspots and improve the credibility and reliability of environmental data used by regulators.
He described the initiative as timely, noting that the commission was intensifying efforts to implement its 2022 guidelines on the management of fugitive methane and greenhouse gas emissions in the upstream oil and gas sector.
According to him, the guidelines require operators to transition from estimated emissions reporting to measurement-based reporting by the first quarter of 2027.
Tonlagha said NOGIET aligned with the commission’s digital transformation agenda and Nigeria’s commitment to reducing methane emissions, ending routine gas flaring and achieving net-zero emissions by 2060.
He added that the commission would work towards integrating the platform into its regulatory monitoring and data management systems to ensure its effective and sustainable use.
Similarly, Mr Abdulafiz Balogun, Director of HSEC at NUPRC, said the platform would enhance technology-driven environmental regulation by enabling the commission to independently verify emissions data submitted by oil and gas operators.
Balogun said the commission would collaborate with SDN to integrate the system into its digital infrastructure and ensure that it delivered measurable improvements in emissions monitoring, regulatory compliance and enforcement.
He commended the technical teams from SDN and the commission, particularly personnel from the HSEC and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) departments, for their contributions to the development of the platform.
The Head of Environment and Climate Change at SDN, Dr Jude Samuelson, said NOGIET featured a live map that enabled users to view Nigeria’s oil and gas infrastructure, including oil blocks, through different interactive layers.
Samuelson explained that the platform combined satellite technology with ground-based information to provide regulators with a clearer picture of methane emissions across the sector, supporting more effective surveillance, evidence-based decision-making and environmental enforcement.
