Gas flaring from hydrocarbon production rose by 7pc in 2023 to 148bn m³, the highest level since 2019, according to a report by the Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMRP).
The GFMRP, an initiative managed by the World Bank, has since 2011 used satellites to gather data and create an inventory of global flaring. And volumes flared last year rose to the highest since 2019, reversing a fall in 2022. The gas flared could have had a market value of $9bn-48bn, assuming either US Henry Hub prices on the low end or European import prices on the high end, according to the GFMRP. And assuming all these flares operated with a 98pc destruction efficiency, the volumes flared would have resulted in 381mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of emissions, although if some flares were lower efficiency, they would have emitted more methane and CO2e emissions could be higher, the GFMRP said.
The countries where the biggest increase in flaring was reported were Iran, Russia and the US. Volumes flared increased by 3.2bn m³, 2.9bn m³ and 1.7bn m³ in these countries, respectively, compared with 2022.
Iran's emissions were higher because of an increase in oil production without a parallel investment in the infrastructure required to use the associated gas produced.
The increase in Russia was uniform across hydrocarbon provinces in the country, and might have been driven by supply chain problems limiting maintenance in the wake of the war in Ukraine, the report said.
And the US rise in emissions was sharpest in the Permian basin, where power cuts in the record-breaking hot summer of last year might have left electrically-powered compressors in collecting infrastructure unable to run, leading to operators flaring produced gas instead.
But emissions fell in some countries. The biggest fall was in Algeria, where 400mn m³ less gas was flared compared with 2022. Although oil production in the country also fell by 2pc, flaring intensity of production was still down by 3pc, which the report attributes to flare gas recovery projects implemented by state-controlled Sonatrach at Hassi Messaoud, the country's largest oil field. The company committed to more projects at other fields in 2023, which could deliver further reductions, the report said.
And in Venezuela, oil production climbed by 7pc but methane emissions fell by 300mn m³ (4pc), leading to a 10pc reduction in overall intensity. Reductions in flaring were localised in oil fields in the north of Monagas state, linked to flare gas recovery infrastructure built in the region by state-controlled oil firm PdV.
Nine countries collectively — the five named above, and Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and Mexico — are responsible for 75pc of global gas flaring, but only 46pc of oil production.
Production facilities might flare gas for safety purposes or maintenance. At other oil-weighted sites, associated gas might be flared because there is no infrastructure to put it to use.
