The Fire That Does Not Go Out: The Neglected Costs of Gas Flaring in Nigeria

Gas flaring, the burning off gas coming out of oil wells is a common practice in oil-producing developing countries. This practice is harmful to human health, especially because of pollutants. This research focuses on Nigeria, where over 10 percent of all gas produced is flared and about 2 million people are estimated to live within 4 kilometres of a flare site. This paper uses child health data from Demographic Health Surveys and satellite-detected data on gas flaring to examine associations between flaring exposure and child morbidity, nutritional outcomes, and mortality among children under 5 years of age. The findings show a positive association between flaring and the incidence of respiratory diseases and fever among children under 5 years of age but no robust association with mortality. The study contributes to the literature measuring the wider cost to society of oil and gas production and adds to the body of work using satellite data to understand well-being in places where conventional data sources are unavailable.