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North Sea flaring reached record low in 2021
9/3/2022
News
Flaring in the UK North Sea fell by 19% in 2021, building on a 22% decrease the previous year, according to new analysis from the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA).
Production facilities cut their flaring by 6bn cf, to 26bn cf, a reduction equivalent to the annual gas demand of 130,000 UK homes.
It means that North Sea offshore flaring volumes dipped to their lowest annual level on OGA records, while an all-time monthly low was set in June 2021.
Offshore flaring intensity – the amount of gas flared per unit of oil produced – decreased from 94 cf/b in 2020 to 90 cf/b in 2021, an 11-year low. This measure has now fallen four years in a row, from 125 cf/b in 2017, reports OGA.
Overall venting fell 24% while, within that, venting of inert gases (mainly CO2) was 29% lower and methane dropped by 8%.
The OGA has taken a proactive approach to support these reductions, using new guidance, its consenting regime, active stewardship, monitoring, benchmarking and reporting to drive down both gas flaring and venting and, where possible, eliminate them.
The UK oil and gas industry is expected to achieve zero routine flaring and venting by 2030 or sooner, and all new developments should be designed on the basis of zero routine flaring and venting, notes the OGA.
Last year’s drop in flaring and venting also coincided with planned maintenance shutdowns on multiple installations. Much of this work was postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and included the closure and upgrade of pipelines, such as the Forties pipeline system.
