[News Terms] Global Oilfield 'Flaring' Scale Hits Five-Year High

WB: Oil and Gas Companies' Natural Gas Combustion Increased by 7% Last Year
Pollution Emissions Rose by 23 Million Tons, Equivalent to 5 Million More Vehicles on Roads
"Global Efforts to Reduce Gas Combustion Are Not Sustainable"

A World Bank report revealed that the scale of natural gas flaring at oil fields worldwide last year reached the highest level in five years.

'Flaring' refers to the controlled combustion of gas leaking into the atmosphere from oil wells. It usually involves burning off natural gas that comes out along with oil during drilling for safety reasons. This gas is a large amount of natural gas trapped together with crude oil in massive reservoirs, which escapes through drilling wells and other outlets.

Crude oil drilling site.
Photo by Korea National Oil Corporation

This gas contains harmful substances such as hydrogen sulfide, which can pollute the soil or air, or cause explosions if it accumulates to a certain concentration in the atmosphere. To eliminate these risks, the gas is burned off in advance. Releasing leaking gas directly into the atmosphere is called 'venting,' while burning the leaking gas under control is called flaring.

Environmental groups warn that the carbon dioxide generated by flaring can affect the global climate. However, the oil industry argues that flaring is a necessary process because it burns methane and other gases that are more than 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

The European Union (EU) prohibits routine venting and flaring at oil wells except in unavoidable safety cases.

On the 20th (local time), the World Bank (WB) disclosed in its 'Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report' that the volume of natural gas burned by oil and gas producers last year increased by about 7% compared to the previous year, reaching 148 billion cubic meters, according to Bloomberg News and others.

This is the highest amount in five years since 2019. Accordingly, the pollution emissions converted to carbon dioxide increased by 23 million tons, which is equivalent to adding about 5 million vehicles on the road. During this period, crude oil production increased by only 1%.

This increase in combustion volume marks a reversal from the decreases in 2021 and 2022 and poses a challenge to the WB's plan to end routine flaring within six years. The WB stated regarding these results, "This suggests that global efforts to reduce gas flaring are not sustainable," and added, "Urgent action is needed if the world is to reduce routine flaring to zero by 2030."

According to the WB, the oil and gas sector accounts for about one-fifth of anthropogenic methane emissions caused by leaks and gas combustion, half of which come from producers in developing countries. Methane is the main component of natural gas and has a warming effect more than 80 times that of carbon dioxide during the first 20 years it remains in the atmosphere.

Nine countries account for 75% of flaring and 46% of global oil production. These countries, ranked by flaring volume, include Russia, Iran, Iraq, the United States, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, and Mexico. Although Algeria and Venezuela have reduced their flaring volumes, their efforts were offset by increases in Iran, Russia, the United States, Libya, and others.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.