''The gas flare-out deadlines have not been backed by any legislation, so they are more or less voluntary targets the the government and oil companies agreed to and which they violate at will''

An agreement between oil companies and the Nigerian government had promised to end all gas flaring by 2008, but human rights groups from the Delta say neither side looks set to meet the deadline because the state oil company, which has a 50 percent stake in the nation's oil operations, has failed to provide its share of the funding to stop flaring.