BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 5
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Russia tops the list of global gas flaring countries in 2020, contributing to 15 percent of global gas flaring, Trend reports with reference to the World Bank (WB).
Mixed performance is seen across Russia: with a significant increase in flaring at oil production sites in East Siberia, alongside significant improvements in flaring reduction in the KMAO region in West Siberia.
Global gas flaring dropped by 5 percent from 150 bcm in 2019 to 142 bcm in 2020.
The United States accounted for 70 percent of the global decline, with gas flaring falling by 32 percent from 2019 to 2020, due to an 8 percent drop in oil production, combined with new infrastructure to use gas that would otherwise be flared. Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria, Venezuela and Nigeria remain the top seven gas flaring countries for nine years running, since the first of two satellites was launched in 2012. These seven countries produce 40 percent of the world’s oil each year, but account for roughly two-thirds (65 percent) of global gas flaring.
While the United States saw a 32 percent drop in gas flaring, the country’s main three shale oil-producing regions – the Permian and Eagleford in Texas, and the Bakken in North Dakota – continued to account for over 90 percent of the gas flaring in 2020. However, combined flaring from these three regions declined by over 5 bcm in 2020, partly due to a reduction in oil production and the drilling of new wells, but also as a result of increasing volumes of flare gas being connected to existing and new gas pipeline networks.
Gas flaring per barrel of oil produced, or “flaring intensity,” increased significantly in fragile or conflict-affected countries: in Venezuela by 50 percent and in Libya by 38 percent, indicating an inability and lack of capacity to deal with the issue of gas flaring.
Gas flaring in China increased by 35 percent; China was the ninth highest flaring country globally in 2020. Most of this increase was from new field developments in the West of China. There are a small number of large flaring sites which contribute the most to global flaring. In 2020, 12 percent of flare sites contributed to 75 percent of total flaring volume globally.
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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
