Gas Flaring

What is gas flaring?

Non-emergency flaring and venting occur when oil field operators opt to burn the "associated" gas that accompanies oil production, or simply release it to the atmosphere, rather than to build the equipment and pipelines to capture it.

Why is it important?

Flaring results in the release of substantial volumes of potent GHGs, including methane, black soot and nitrous oxide. Venting causes even worse environmental damage than flaring.

Where do we need to go?

With natural gas prices at historic highs, gas flaring is an extraordinary waste of money in addition to its negative impacts on climate change and human health. Bringing this gas to market could offer relief to very tight gas markets and, in many cases, could do so faster and cheaper than investing in new supply.

Around 140 bcm of natural gas is flared globally each year. This is a major source of CO2 emissions, methane and black soot, and is damaging to health. In 2022, the volume of gas flared worldwide fell by around 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) to 139 bcm (about 3% reduction). Flaring resulted in 500 Mt CO2 equivalent annual GHG emissions in 2022. Around 70% of gas flared goes to flares that operate on a near continual basis. In the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario, all non-emergency flaring is eliminated globally by 2030, resulting in a 95% reduction in flared volumes and avoiding 365 Mt CO2-eq. 

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。

Oil producers have a range of readily available options to reduce and avoid flaring, with a number of new technologies also under development

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.  

Oil producers have a range of readily available options to reduce and avoid flaring, with a number of new technologies also under development

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.  

Operators that sell high-flaring assets are often passing on a problem to other operators that may be less willing, or less able, to cut down on flaring

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.  

Several international initiatives have been launched to reduce methane emissions from flaring

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.