Environmental Impact and Engineering Management of Gas Flaring in Onshore Oil Fields of Bayelsa State

This study examines the environmental impacts and engineering management approaches for associated gas flaring operations in onshore oil fields of Bayelsa State, South South Nigeria. Nigeria flares large volumes of associated gas annually, making it one of the world's top gas flaring countries, and the environmental impacts on air quality, climate, and community health in flare-adjacent communities are well documented but poorly managed. The study employs a professional engineering management assessment, combining measurements of flare gas composition, smoke luminosity, and combustion efficiency at five flare stacks in Ogbia and Yenagoa Local Government Areas with ambient air quality monitoring at community receptor points and a review of gas flaring reduction management plans submitted to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. Combustion efficiency was estimated from carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide ratios using remote Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Community health survey data were obtained from a regional epidemiological database. Results show that three of five assessed flare stacks operate below the NUPREC minimum combustion efficiency standard of 98 percent, with one stack exhibiting visible black smoke indicative of highly incomplete combustion. PM2.5 concentrations in the nearest community to the lowest-efficiency flare exceed WHO guidelines on 68 percent of monitoring days. Gas-to-power conversion engineering assessments submitted to NUPREC for four of the five sites have not been implemented beyond feasibility study stage. Recommendations include mandatory combustion efficiency improvement deadlines tied to NUPREC licence renewal and accelerated gas-to-power conversion project implementation. Keywords: gas flaring, combustion efficiency, air pollution, Bayelsa State, gas utilisation.