Our estimated rate of U.S. natural gas vented or flared declined in 2023
Note: The Natural Gas Annual relies on vented and flared natural gas data reporting by states, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
We estimate the annual reported volume of natural gas that is vented or flared in the United States declined to 0.5% of gross withdrawals in 2023, based on preliminary state and federal data. We estimate this percentage will be the lowest rate of venting and flaring recorded in 18 years.
What is natural gas venting and flaring and why does it happen?
Venting is the release of natural gas directly into the atmosphere during oil and natural gas production and operations. Venting releases methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Flaring is the burning of natural gas, which releases carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas, as well as some unburned methane into the atmosphere. Oil and natural gas producers and operators of facilities vent or flare natural gas in response to emergencies, safety tests, maintenance and repairs, or infrastructure constraints. When pipeline takeaway capacity is limited, for example, operators sometimes vent or flare natural gas that cannot be economically stored, depending on the regulations in the states in which they operate.
Methane can also leak from oil and natural gas installations, but leaks are not typically captured in the venting and flaring data reported.
How much natural gas is typically vented and flared during production and processing?
The percentage of natural gas that is vented or flared can vary greatly across individual wells and producing regions due to different regulations and infrastructure constraints. The rate of natural gas vented or flared in the United States has decreased from 1.3% in 2018 and 2019 to an estimated 0.5% in 2023, even though natural gas production increased over the same period to a record average of 125.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2023. During this time, the reported share of natural gas vented and flared as a percentage of gross withdrawals for individual states has ranged from less than 0.1% on an annual basis in several states to as much as 19.3% in North Dakota in 2019, or from less than 0.1 Bcf/d to 0.7 Bcf/d.
Where does most venting and flaring occur in the United States?
The states with the most reported vented and flared natural gas are Texas, North Dakota, and Wyoming. In 2023, North Dakota, Wyoming, and California, as well as the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico, have the highest rates of reported vented or flared natural gas relative to their gross withdrawals of natural gas. In 2023, we estimate operators in North Dakota flared 5.1% of gross withdrawals, and those in Wyoming vented and flared 4.4% of their gross withdrawals. Combined, this rate amounts to 0.3 Bcf/d of the two states’ 6.5 Bcf/d of gross withdrawals, or about half of the volume of vented or flared natural gas in the United States reported in 2023 so far.
North Dakota has had high rates of venting and flaring since 2006 because associated natural gas production in the Bakken region grew more quickly than natural gas production and processing facilities, as well as pipeline takeaway capacity. North Dakota banned the venting of natural gas in 2014 and has captured more natural gas over the last decade, decreasing the share of natural gas flared from 31.6% in 2011 as natural gas production and processing facilities and pipeline takeaway capacity increased.
Note: The Natural Gas Annual relies on vented and flared natural gas data reporting by states, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
We assess operators in the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico as well as in California vented or flared 1.2% of their natural gas gross withdrawals in 2023. Combined, these sources account for less than 0.1 Bcf/d, or 4.4%, of total reported U.S. vented and flared volumes.
In comparison, we estimate operators in Texas vented or flared 0.5% (0.2 Bcf/d) of the state’s annual gross withdrawals of 33.9 Bcf/d in 2023, decreasing the percentage of natural gas vented and flared from 2.6% (0.7 Bcf/d) in 2018.
Why do we measure and report on natural gas venting and flaring?
Venting releases methane gas, which is more than 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat, directly into the atmosphere, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Flaring ignites the methane gas and converts a portion of the gas to carbon dioxide, which has a lower climate warming potential than methane.
U.S. federal and state regulators have introduced many initiatives over the last 10 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the associated lost tax and royalty revenue, although rules vary by state. Many of these initiatives are at the state level, such as the capture targets set by the North Dakota Industrial Commission and adjustments to the permitted flaring exemptions revised by the Railroad Commission of Texas.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Methane Mitigation Technologies program was established in 2016 to fund research and development of technologies and infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) established the Methane Emissions Reduction program to help reduce emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases from the oil and natural gas sector. The IRA further authorized the EPA to collect an annual Waste Emissions Charge on methane emissions exceeding given thresholds. In April 2024, the Bureau of Land Management finalized the Waste Prevention Rule, which tightened previous standards for the capture of natural gas and leak detection and repair.
Vented and flared natural gas also represents lost revenue for the operators, lost taxes for the states, and lost royalty payments for the mineral owners and the lease holders of the land where the oil and natural gas wells are located, which includes the federal and Tribal governments.
We are incorporating some of these new venting and flaring policies into our long-term National Energy Modeling System. Our new Hydrocarbon Supply Module includes an updated representation of penalties and royalties applied to vented and flared methane gas introduced in recent legislation. We will host a working group discussion with stakeholders on July 11, 2024, on these updates.
When will the 2023 venting and flaring data be final?
We typically publish annual and monthly statistics for vented and flared natural gas in the Natural Gas Annual in September of each year. We rely on federal and state data, each with different reporting requirements. To derive the preliminary estimates for this analysis, we used data from federal and state agencies that have already reported through 2023. These data included reports from the states and the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico that made up 62.5% of total reported U.S. natural gas gross withdrawals and 98.9% of reported natural gas vented and flared in 2022. We estimated the vented and flared statistics for the states that have not reported the full 2023 period by applying a weighted average growth rate from the reported states.
Principal contributors: Trinity Manning-Pickett, Eulalia Munoz-Cortijo