Nigeria, Sept. 24 -- The fire at Inua Eyet Ikot does not go out. Day and night, a flare stack operated by Network Exploration & Production Nigeria casts an orange glow over this oil-rich community in Akwa Ibom State, radiating heat as it burns.

"That's how the fire burns nonstop," said Sunday Okon, a security guard stationed a kilometer from the stack. "It can be really hot here, and sometimes you feel the vibration."

Half a kilometer closer to the flame, Idiok Godwin, a local bricklayer, shares his experience. "We cannot use rainwater here, and some nights it can be very hot," he said. "People get ill too."

The problems they describe point to a contradiction at the heart of Nigeria's oil and gas industry. Globally, Nigeria has cast it...