This article was first published on Rigzone here
Flaring in the UK North Sea fell by 19 percent in 2021, building on a 22 percent decrease the previous year, a new analysis by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) shows.
The OGA said that the production facilities cut their flaring by 6 billion cubic feet (bcf), to 26 bcf, a reduction equivalent to the annual gas demand of 130,000 UK homes.
It means that 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 standard cubic feet per barrel (scf/bbl) in 2020 to 90 scf/bbl in 2021, an 11-year low. This measure has now fallen four years in a row, from 125 scf/bbl in 2017.
Overall venting went down 24 percent while, within that, venting of inert gases – mainly carbon dioxide – was 29 percent lower and methane dropped by 8 percent.
The OGA’s proactive approach supported and contributed to these reductions and reflects our sharpened focus on flaring and venting. The organization is using new guidance, its consenting regime, active stewardship, monitoring, benchmarking, and reporting to drive both down and, where possible, eliminate them.
The industry is expected to achieve zero routine flaring and venting by 2030 or sooner, and all new developments should be designed based on zero routine flaring and venting.
The OGA is working closely with those operators which flare and vent the most to ensure quick progress is made. Operators’ requests for flaring and venting consents for new field development plans and existing production are being closely scrutinized, and a halt can be ordered if excessive levels are reached.
Examples of our robust stewardship process in action include insisting that a major operator reinstated a flare gas recovery system on a platform and helping another identify a fault with valves on an installation where flaring had become excessive.
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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.
“As part of our commitment to hold the industry to account on emissions reduction targets agreed in the North Sea Transition Deal, our first, annual Emissions Monitoring Report was published in October 2021. To supplement this report, the OGA produced two interactive benchmarking dashboards, one of which tracks flaring and venting activity,” OGA said.