Flaring Accountability

The report finds that 10 major international oil companies (IOCs) are responsible for 7% of global gas flaring on an equity-weighted basis, with a significant portion occurring at non-operated assets. In 2023, total global upstream flaring was 145 billion cubic meters (bcm), with an average intensity of 5.0 m³/bbl. The analysis highlights a gap between corporate commitments to the World Bank's Zero Routine Flaring (ZRF) initiative and actual performance, noting that non-routine flaring remains largely unabated and that no analyzed company meets the IEA's Net Zero Emissions scenario target of 0.3 m³/bbl by 2030. The report argues that IOCs have a broader influence on up to 40% of global flaring through their partnerships with national oil companies (NOCs) and recommends extending emissions targets to non-operated assets and implementing stricter regulatory and financial levers.

• In 2023, total global gas flaring from upstream oil and gas was 145 billion cubic meters (bcm), representing a global average flaring intensity of 5.0 cubic meters per barrel of oil/condensate produced (m³/bbl).
• Ten major international oil companies (BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Repsol, Shell, and TotalEnergies) are responsible for 7% of global flaring based on equity ownership, totaling approximately 10 bcm of gas in 2023.
• The influence of the 10 analyzed IOCs extends beyond their equity share; they have direct influence over 15% of global flaring via assets where they have invested capital, and a total influence of nearly 40% when including all partners.
• A significant portion of flaring for these IOCs occurs at non-operated assets, with 61% of their total flaring taking place at such sites. Seven of the ten companies exhibit higher flaring intensities at non-operated assets than at operated ones.
• None of the 10 analyzed IOCs meet the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario target for 2030, which requires a flaring intensity of 0.3 m³/bbl. Eni was identified as the worst performer with a company average intensity of 8.2 m³/bbl (later adjusted to 7.1 m³/bbl).
• Commitments to the World Bank's Zero Routine Flaring (ZRF) initiative are insufficient because they focus only on 'routine' flaring. In 2022, only 30% of the total reported flaring from these 10 IOCs was classified as routine, meaning 70% of flaring (non-routine) may remain unabated.
• Russia and Iran are major global flaring hubs, with Russia accounting for nearly 20% and Iran for 14% of global flaring. The report excludes Russia from its ownership attribution analysis due to geopolitical constraints and limited IOC leverage following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
• In the onshore United States, the 10 analyzed IOCs are responsible for 11% of flaring while producing 28% of oil and condensate. High flaring levels in the U.S. are primarily driven by companies with solely domestic footprints.
• The report identifies several technical solutions to reduce flaring, including pipelines, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucking, on-site electricity production, gas-to-liquids facilities, natural gas liquids recovery, and reinjection into underground reservoirs.

APA

Feldman, L., Patel, H., & Turitto, J. (2024). Flaring Accountability. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/resource/flaring-accountability/

Chicago

Feldman, Lesley, Heny Patel, and James Turitto. Flaring Accountability. Clean Air Task Force, 2024. https://www.catf.us/resource/flaring-accountability/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Feldman |first1=Lesley |last2=Patel |first2=Heny |last3=Turitto |first3=James |title=Flaring Accountability |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/flaring-accountability/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{feldman2024flaring, author = {Feldman, Lesley and Patel, Heny and Turitto, James}, title = {{Flaring Accountability}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/flaring-accountability/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }