Methane Abatement in the Oil and Gas Sector: Improve Flaring Practices

The document analyzes methane abatement through improved flaring practices in nine African and Latin American countries. It identifies removing unlit flaring as a priority low-cost action and notes that while most measures fall below a low-cost threshold of 596 USD/tCH4, costs vary by country based on flaring volumes per site. Key barriers include regulatory focuses on flaring volumes rather than efficiency and high operation and maintenance requirements.

• Improving flaring practices involves two primary actions: removing unlit flaring through the installation of reliable pilot and auto-ignition systems and monitoring, and increasing destruction efficiency for lit flares via equipment retrofits, improved gas routing, and enhanced automation.
• The cost of removing unlit flaring ranges from $0 to $500,000 per equipment, while increasing flare destruction efficiency costs between $500,000 and $1,000,000 per equipment; both options have operating costs below 5% of capital expenditure (CAPEX).
• Most flaring-related mitigation measures are considered relatively low-cost, falling below the threshold of 596 USD/tCH4 (20 USD/tCO2e), although they do not generate revenue unlike capture-based options.
• Cost-efficiency varies by country: Libya and Algeria offer high emissions-reduction potential at low cost due to high flaring volumes per site, whereas Argentina and Nigeria face higher costs and lower potential because of lower flaring volumes per site.
• Wider deployment is hindered by regulations in countries like Ghana, Mexico, and Nigeria that prioritize reducing total flared volumes over improving flare performance, as well as high operation and maintenance requirements for remote sites.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2026). Methane Abatement in the Oil and Gas Sector: Improve Flaring Practices. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/22155124/Methane-Abatement-in-the-Oil-and-Gas-Sector-Flaring.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Methane Abatement in the Oil and Gas Sector: Improve Flaring Practices. 2026. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/22155124/Methane-Abatement-in-the-Oil-and-Gas-Sector-Flaring.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Methane Abatement in the Oil and Gas Sector: Improve Flaring Practices |date=June 2026 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/22155124/Methane-Abatement-in-the-Oil-and-Gas-Sector-Flaring.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2026methane, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Methane Abatement in the Oil and Gas Sector: Improve Flaring Practices}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/22155124/Methane-Abatement-in-the-Oil-and-Gas-Sector-Flaring.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }