OGA tells operators to reduce flaring-venting

Greenhouse gases from oil and gas flaring and venting on the UK Continental Shelf need to be further reduced, said the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).

Although some operators have lowered emissions, the volume of gas flared and vented in oil and gas production last year was equivalent to 3% of all the natural gas produced in 2019.

A report from the industry regulator has for the first time included flaring and venting activity levels in the North Sea.

Findings showed that figures have fallen from previous years reflecting good practice among some operators but still remain high.

The report included:
– 42 billion standard cubic feet of gas (bcf) was flared in 2019 from offshore facilities.
– However, the volume of gas flared in 2019 was a 4% reduction from 2018, the first annual reduction since 2014.
– 7 bcf of gas was vented on the UKCS in 2019 from offshore facilities. This was a 34% reduction from 2018.
– In 2019, on the UKCS 114 standard cubic feet of gas was flared for every barrel of oil produced (scf/bbl). This measure has fallen for two consecutive years and is 12% down from 129 scf/bbl recorded in 2017.

Venting is discharging gases to the atmosphere, and flaring is burning gases before they are discharged.

Both are unavoidable for safety and operational reasons but the OGA said more could be done to reduce this number.

Currently flaring alone makes up a quarter of all UK offshore oil and gas production related CO² emissions and represents 1% of total UK annual CO² emissions (2019).

Venting produces less than 1% of UK offshore oil and gas CO₂ emissions, but is responsible for around half of all offshore methane emissions. This represents 1% of total UK annual methane emissions (2018).

SCRUTINY

The OGA issues consents for flaring and venting of gas on extant licences and is exploring tougher measures as part of this process to eliminate unnecessary or wasteful flaring and venting.

It will now scrutinise operator flaring and venting requests in both existing production and in new field development plans.

The OGA has also introduced benchmarking of flaring and venting data in order to drive improved performance across industry.

A statement from the OGA read: “Good practice already being shown by industry includes some operators looking at eductors – specialist pumps – to minimise flaring, and evidence that many are prioritising flare/vent volumes as a key performance measure in their day-to-day operations.”