6/22/2024–|Last updated: 6/22/202412:03 AM (Mecca time)
Despite the global commitment to the “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative, a World Bank report confirmed that oil companies continue to increase the flaring of natural gas associated with oil production, which undermines efforts to eliminate this environmentally harmful practice.
The report recently published by the World Bank indicates that gas flaring levels did not decrease as expected.
Instead, oil companies around the world burned last year the largest amount of natural gas associated with oil production during the past five years, and the report indicated that companies burned an estimated 148 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, an estimated increase of 7% over the year. 2022 despite the increase in crude oil production by only 1% during the aforementioned period.
These practices – according to the World Bank – raise concerns about the effectiveness of the initiative and the commitment of participating entities, and the increasing gas flaring activities indicate that there is a need to take more stringent measures and strengthen cooperation to achieve the 2030 goal.
Commitment and challenges
The initiative – according to the World Bank – is designed to facilitate cooperation between governments and oil companies to find and implement solutions to end routine gas flaring. Parties supporting the initiative are committed to submitting annual reports on their gas flaring activities and progress towards achieving the initiative’s goals.
While these commitments are monitored through various means, including government and corporate reports and satellite observations, the rise in gas flaring suggests that current efforts may be insufficient.
The World Bank report stated that this increase in gas flaring eliminated the impact of the reductions achieved in 2021 and 2022, and added that “global efforts to reduce spontaneous gas flaring associated with oil production are not sustainable and there is a need to take urgent action.”
The President of the World Petroleum Council, Dr. Joseph Toth, stressed the importance of commitment to the initiative, saying: “We encourage all members of the World Petroleum Council (WPC), especially from government, national and international oil companies, to support this initiative, because it is a well-crafted and very clear way to demonstrate our industry’s commitment to stewardship.” Strong environmental and effective resource management.
Environmental and economic impacts
The bank’s report says that the environmental and economic benefits resulting from reducing gas flaring are significant.
Implementing the initiative would enhance the effective monetization of hydrocarbon resources and ensure cleaner oil production, reducing the carbon footprint of oil-producing countries and companies. However, the continued rise in gas flaring undermines these potential benefits and poses a serious challenge to global climate goals.
Industry and government response
Governments and companies that support this initiative agree – according to the World Bank – to avoid routine flaring in new oil field development projects and to end routine flaring in current production by 2030.
They must also report total annual gas flaring and the share of routine flaring.
Despite these commitments, industry sources indicate that governments and companies face significant challenges in fully committing to the initiative.
Factors such as regulatory frameworks, economic pressures and technical constraints contribute to the continued practice of gas flaring.
Nine major oil-producing countries account for 75% of gas flaring and 46% of oil production. These countries are Russia, Iran, Iraq, the United States, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria and Mexico, according to the order of the quantities of gas burned.
The report stated that Algeria and Venezuela reduced spontaneous combustion, but these gains were eroded by Iran, Russia, the United States, Libya and other countries.