North Dakota’s gas flaring rate 7 times higher than next-highest state, study finds – InForum

BISMARCK — North Dakota is certainly one of 5 states that collectively account for 90% of the nation’s flared pure gas and is an “outlier” with seven times the flaring depth of the following highest state.

These are among the many findings from consulting agency Rystad Energy in a study commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund, which discovered that infrastructure capability limitations are by far the commonest reason for gas flaring that can’t be captured and processed.

According to the report, North Dakota far outperformed the opposite 4 main flaring states in flaring depth, the share of gas flared as a proportion of complete gas produced.

North Dakota accounted for 35% of flaring by the group of prime 5 states – second solely to Texas at 41% – nevertheless it had a flaring depth of 7.1%, seven times extra than the following highest state New Mexico, which flared 1% of gas produced in 2021, in accordance with the Rystad Energy report.

Flaring in New Mexico accounted for 11% of the 5 states complete. Texas, the highest oil and gas state, flared 0.9% of the gas produced in 2021, the report mentioned. Wyoming flared 0.2% of its pure gas, adopted by Colorado at 0.1%.

“It’s a huge source of waste. It’s really unscrupulous. It’s also a huge source of pollution,” mentioned Jon Goldstein, the Environmental Defense Fund’s senior director of regulatory and legislative affairs. “It’s a big problem, especially in North Dakota.”

Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, mentioned the overwhelming majority of pure gas produced within the state is a byproduct of oil wells, making extraction tough.

Elsewhere, most pure gas is produced from pure gas wells which can be particularly designed to seize the gas for processing, he mentioned.

“I don’t think the way they did that analysis is a good method,” Helms mentioned. “The problem is that North Dakota is the only one of these five states where the vast majority of our gas comes from oil wells.”

In North Dakota, 65% of pure gas comes from oil wells, in comparison with 10% in Texas, he mentioned. Flaring happens at oil wells, not pure gas wells, Helms mentioned.

Amy Dalrymple / Forum Communications Co.

Still, Helms acknowledged that even when solely “associated” gas is taken into account — gas manufacturing linked to grease manufacturing — North Dakota nonetheless tops the listing, however at a rate nearer to 1.5 times the following highest state, he mentioned.

“I’m not happy to be in the top percentage,” mentioned Helms. “We still have a lot to do.”

In September, in accordance with the most recent figures out there, North Dakota’s oil producers recovered 95% of pure gas, setting an all-time excessive in each gas produced and recovered. Statewide flared gas quantity from August, when 94% of the gas was captured, fell by 35,000 cubic toes per day to 156.4 million cubic toes per day, in accordance with state figures.

To additional scale back flaring, North Dakota is specializing in 4 oil fields which can be effectively under the general seize rate, starting from 52% to 87%, Helms mentioned. Three of the 4 oil fields are on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

“If we can get that to 95%, the associated gas capture would be consistent with other states,” Helms mentioned.

Companies are making ready to seize the gas, and Helms expects that in a few yr, a lot of the gas within the troubled oil fields can be captured and delivered to market.

Plans additionally embody reversing two pipelines initially designed to hold pure gas from Wyoming to North Dakota so extra gas might be exported for processing, Helms mentioned.

Increased pipeline capability would additionally permit two or three gas processing crops in North Dakota to broaden, rising capability by half a billion cubic toes per day, he mentioned.

Natural gas processing capability in North Dakota quadrupled from 1 billion cubic toes per day in 2013 to 4 billion cubic toes per day in 2021, which Helms mentioned helped considerably scale back flaring.

The gas processing infrastructure can be additional expanded. In a challenge anticipated to begin development in 2023, a Canadian firm referred to as Cerilon plans to develop a $2.8 billion facility in Williams County that may convert pure gas into liquid fuels. The facility is predicted to provide 24,000 barrels per day of extremely-low-sulfur diesel and different specialty merchandise.

Flaring peaked in North Dakota in 2011 when 36% of pure gas was recovered. In 2020, in accordance with the US Department of Energy, North Dakota accounted for twenty-four% of all vented and flared pure gas, which holds 2.4% of the nation’s pure gas reserves.

North Dakota has a purpose of recovering 91% of its pure gas, a stage that was lowered from 95% in 2018 by 2020 when the coverage was handed in 2014.

Today, most main oil producers goal to recuperate 95% to 98% of pure gas, and the state is contemplating rising its restoration goal, Helms mentioned.

The most efficient space of ​​the Oil Patch’s Bakken Formation is 80% to 85% developed, prompting oil producers to broaden past the core the place oil and gas usually are not as simply accessible, he mentioned.

That will make it more durable to extend the gas seize rate, Helms mentioned. “It’s going to be an interesting challenge,” he mentioned. The business’s use of horizontal drilling now extends as much as three miles laterally, over the one-mile lengthy sides that have been as soon as customary, making drilling extra environment friendly.

“It’s very exciting,” Helms mentioned, however added that constructing gas seize infrastructure in time to scale back flaring can be a problem.

The Environmental Defense Fund study discovered that flaring in North Dakota is primarily brought on by an absence of infrastructure. Infrastructure capability constraints account for 84% of flaring in North Dakota and 64% in Texas.

North Dakota is certainly one of 5 states that accounted for 90% of complete flared quantity in 2021. North Dakota flares an identical quantity as Texas, which produces extra than 9 times as a lot gas, making North Dakota’s flaring depth a lot higher than different states.

Methane, the principle element of pure gas, is a strong greenhouse gas. Over a 20-yr interval, pound for pound, methane is extra than 80 times stronger than the extra ample carbon dioxide.

A latest study discovered that flaring doesn’t destroy methane as effectively as is broadly believed by each business and authorities.

A staff of researchers led by the University of Michigan discovered of their findings revealed in Science that flaring is the supply of 5 times extra air pollution than beforehand thought on account of inefficient combustion.

Industry and authorities usually assume that flared gas is burned at 98% effectivity, however the researchers discovered that solely 91.1% of the methane is destroyed by the flaring, which is attributed to unlit flares and inefficient combustion is.

“This represents a fivefold increase in methane emissions over current assumptions and accounts for 4% to 10% of total US oil and gas methane emissions,” the study discovered.

The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a brand new 505-web page draft rule regulating methane flaring and venting.

According to the EPA, the proposal would scale back methane emissions from lined sources by 87% under 2005 ranges.

Mandaree’s Lisa DeVille, a member of the Dakota Resource Council, welcomed the brand new methane rule, which she mentioned would assist scale back flaring.

“On the Fort Berthold Reservation, where my family and I live, torching occurs the most in North Dakota — the state with the most torches!” she mentioned. “The rapid finalization of strict EPA rules will protect communities like mine from the immediate threats of flaring and other oil and gas activities, as well as the threats we already face from climate change.”

The proposed rule, open to public remark, attracts consideration to methane “super-emitters” similar to

“I think that’s healthy,” he mentioned, including that North Dakota is taking an identical strategy by specializing in the 4 oil fields which can be flaring at a lot higher charges.

On the opposite hand, Helms has considerations about laws pertaining to certification of methane emissions, which he says battle with North Dakota legislation. Emissions measurement is extremely technical and requires particular coaching, Helms mentioned.

In the brand new rule, the EPA tightens routine flaring however would not go so far as the states of Colorado and New Mexico, Goldstein mentioned. Although it is an enchancment, he mentioned the federal government ought to go additional and name for a discount in methane emissions.