Putting Out the Fire: Reducing flaring in tight oil fields by improving utilization of associated gas

The document assesses the environmental and economic impacts of flaring associated gas in the Bakken and Eagle Ford formations, concluding that routine flaring is unnecessary due to the availability of mature alternatives like CNG trucking, NGL recovery, and gas-to-power generation. It argues that current regulations, such as those in North Dakota, are inadequate and calls for robust nationwide standards from the BLM and EPA to mandate gas capture.

• Flaring of associated gas in the Bakken and Eagle Ford basins increased to approximately 125 billion cubic feet per year by 2013, which is equivalent to the heating needs of 1.87 million U.S. homes.
• Routine flaring produces significant air pollutants, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and black carbon soot, the latter of which is described as a potent climate warmer.
• Three mature and portable technologies are identified as proven alternatives to flaring in tight oil formations: Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Trucking, Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) Recovery, and Gas-to-Power Generation.
• Economic modeling indicates that CNG Trucking can be deployed profitably with negative CO2 abatement costs in all modeled scenarios, particularly for wells within 20-25 miles of a processing plant.
• NGL Recovery is most effective for 'rich' gas with high heavy hydrocarbon content; while C5+ systems offer limited flare reduction, C3+ systems can reduce flaring by 14% to 21% depending on pad size.
• Gas-to-Power generation is most effective for 'lean' gas; reciprocating engines on multi-well pads can reduce flaring by 19% and CO2e by 36% through diesel substitution.
• North Dakota's 2014 regulations, which aim for 90% gas capture by 2020, are deemed inadequate because they still allow for the routine flaring of thousands of wells.
• The document calls for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement nationwide standards prohibiting routine flaring and requiring the use of capture technologies.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). Putting Out the Fire: Reducing flaring in tight oil fields by improving utilization of associated gas. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/21094435/CATF_Pub_PuttingOuttheFire_Summary.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Putting Out the Fire: Reducing flaring in tight oil fields by improving utilization of associated gas. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/21094435/CATF_Pub_PuttingOuttheFire_Summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Putting Out the Fire: Reducing flaring in tight oil fields by improving utilization of associated gas |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/21094435/CATF_Pub_PuttingOuttheFire_Summary.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendputting, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Putting Out the Fire: Reducing flaring in tight oil fields by improving utilization of associated gas}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/21094435/CATF_Pub_PuttingOuttheFire_Summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }