Gas Flaring

Non-emergency flaring and venting (which causes even worse environmental damage than flaring; see Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas) occur when operators opt to burn associated gas on a permanent or semi-permanent basis during production, or simply vent it to the atmosphere. With current global operations and maintenance practices and regulations, we estimate the average global combustion efficiency (including both normally operating and extinguished flares) to be around 92%. This results in the release of substantial volumes of potent GHGs, including methane, black soot and nitrous oxide, to the atmosphere

On-site direct use or energy conversion. Gas that would otherwise be flared is captured and turned into other useable products or electrical power that can be used on site or sold back to an electricity grid. Multiple companies have completed or announced flaring reduction initiatives in major oil developments in Iraq to generate electricity, including Basrah Gas Company and TotalEnergies.  

Portable CNG or mini-LNG facilities to treat gas on site. The CNG process compresses gas at the wellhead so that it can be trucked short distances for infield fuel use or to nearby gas processing facilities. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimated that up to 89% of gas flaring in the Bakken field in 2015 could have been eliminated with this technology. Several similar mini-LNG technologies have been trialled or are in deployment. 

Small-scale gas-to-methanol or gas-to-liquids conversion plants. Several options are being explored, including multifunctional catalysts to develop products from associated gas streams, with a focus on modular conversion equipment.  

Reinjection for disposal or storage can be viable, and so too can reinjection to support ongoing oilfield operations with pressure support. 

There are also technologies and maintenance practices to improve the efficiency of existing flares. For example, using flare tips with more modern designs that improve fuel and air mixing, or converting to flare stacks that ensure adequate fuel–air mixing to consistently achieve very high combustion efficiencies, can significantly reduce emissions resulting from poor combustion efficiency.  

• Norway, which was one of the first countries to introduce regulations requiring operators to meter gas and taxing flaring-related CO2 emissions. These policies have been effective, and Norway has reduced flaring emissions by more than 80% since the mid-1990s. 
• Colombia cut its flaring intensity by around half between 2015 and 2021, and has reduced flared volumes by 70% since 2012. This stems from the country’s focus on emission reductions, creation and empowerment of the National Hydrocarbon Agency (Agencia National de Hidrocarburos [ANH]), Ecopetrol’s progress on emission reductions and overall redirection of gas volumes towards the domestic market.  
• In the United States, while further regulation and more stringent enforcement across more producer states is needed, regulators in Colorado and New Mexico have joined Alaska in introducing a ban on routine flaring. Around one-fifth of US oil production now occurs in states with a routine flaring ban.  
  

A recent study from the Environmental Defense Fund on oil and gas industry mergers and acquisitions showed that asset value is increasingly moving from publicly listed companies with stronger climate commitments to private actors with weaker standards. In 2020, Rystad Energy found that private enterprises operating in the Permian basin flared at levels six times the intensity of publicly held counterparts.  

The Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership is a public–private initiative made up of national and international oil companies, national and regional governments, and international institutions. The partnership aims to increase the use of natural gas associated with oil production by helping to remove technical and regulatory barriers to flaring reduction, conducting research, disseminating best practices and developing country-specific gas flaring reduction programmes. 

Various energy companies, governments and institutions have endorsed the Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative launched by the World Bank and the United Nations in 2015. For new fields, this scheme encourages operators to develop plans to use or conserve all the field’s associated gas without nonemergency flaring. For existing fields, operators are asked to eliminate nonemergency flaring as soon as possible, and no later than 2030.