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Many in the energy industry are familiar with a satellite photo of North Dakota taken at night that shows large concentrations of bright lights in an otherwise remote, undeveloped area. The lit region appears similar to large urban areas in other parts of the US, but is the result of natural gas flaring in the booming Bakken oil and gas field. While flaring is a common practice in the global oil & gas industry, efforts to reduce gas flaring have gained traction in recent years because the practice emits considerable volumes of greenhouse gas emissions and wastes an increasingly important fuel source.

Bakken at night via NASA/NPR

Gas is generally flared from oil wells in regions that lack natural gas gathering and transportation infrastructure. “Flaring of natural gas occurs when natural gas is burned on location due to a lack of gathering pipeline infrastructure or economic alternatives. Flaring of natural gas is a much safer and more environmentally friendly method of handling the natural gas than simply venting into the atmosphere. By flaring the gas, it converts the methane to carbon dioxide (CO2) which reduces greenhouse gases 25-fold,” according to the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.

For comparative purposes, in 2011 Russia flared 34.7 billion cubic meters of gas; Nigeria flared 14.6 Bcm; the US flared 7.1 Bcm and North Dakota flared 0.70 Bcm, according to World Bank and EIA data.

“North Dakota is seeing rapid investment of billions of dollars in new gas pipeline and processing infrastructure to capture this valuable resource,” the North Dakota Pipeline Authority wrote in the May edition of its newsletter called “The Pipeline Publication.” According to the Authority, North Dakota captures and sells roughly 70% of the gas it produces and flares the remaining 30%.

However, the state also vents a considerable portion of its gas output, which is a more pressing climate change concern because methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. According to the EIA, North Dakota “vented and flared” 1.4 Bcm of gas in 2011.

The state recognizes the challenge and is working to find solutions that will reduce venting and flaring – information regarding these efforts can be found on the Pipeline Authority’s website. An additional flaring data and information at the national and global level can be found in the EIA website, the World Bank website and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website.