What is Flaring?

We've all heard about fracking, but do you know about flaring?  I didn't until I read a few articles that mentioned flaring, and felt compelled to find out what it was.  Simply put, flaring is the burning of natural gas that cannot be processed or sold.  Flaring disposes of the gas while releasing emissions into the atmosphere.

When you drill for oil, you also get gas.  Ideally, this gas would be sold to consumers, but this requires costly investment into pipelines and power plants.  Therefore, in practice, some oil producers opt to sell the oil and burn the gas.  This is known as gas flaring.  According to environmental groups, this practice emits pollutants into the environment that are damaging our planet.

Flaring is done most in three countries:  Russia, Nigeria and the U.S.  Gas flaring has decreased in the last two decades in both Russia and Nigeria, but has increased in the U.S.  The increase in this country (it's doubled since 2000) is due primarily to flaring volumes in Wyoming and North Dakota.  Together, these two states account for more than half of the gas flared in the U.S.  Much like Russia, long and expensive pipelines would be required to transport associated gas to the primary domestic consumption market.  It's easier and cheaper to simply burn the gas.  Environmental groups claim the oil industry gets millions in hidden subsidies for releasing greenhouse gases.  Oil companies dispute this fact.  Keep your eyes and ears open regarding flaring.  Will it be increased under the Trump administration, or will it decline?  I think I know the answer.