Aug 29, 2024 · 32m · catalyst
Why are we still flaring gas?
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of Catalyst, host Shail Khan and IEA analyst Tomas de Oliveira Bredariol analyze why natural gas flaring remains stubbornly prevalent worldwide, examining its severe climate impact, underlying economic drivers, decentralized mitigation technologies, and the policy mandates needed to eliminate routine flaring.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Shayle holds 32.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Shayle as informed peer 4.9 Guest teaching 4.9 Guest disagreement 1.0 Shayle pushing back 1.6
speaking balance: gold is Shayle, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 20:11 Correcting the assumption that reinjection is a pure cost
Tomas politely but immediately refutes Shayle's premise that reinjection is purely a stranded operational cost by pointing out it boosts oil recovery.
Hardest push from Shayle ▶ 17:04 Pushing on the economic illogic of using diesel over site gasShayle presses Tomas on why producers continue to incur high costs trucking diesel to site rather than utilizing cheap, co-produced on-site gas.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:30 IEA combustion efficiency findings versus industry claimsTomas educates Shayle on the gap between industry claims of 98% combustion efficiency and the IEA's empirical scientific findings of ~92%.
Shayle holds their own ▶ 21:58 Categorizing decentralized gas monetization technologiesShayle demonstrates comprehensive market fluency by framing the three core alternatives to pipeline off-take: micro-CNG/LNG, GTL methanol conversion, and remote computing.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Shayle as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Shayle pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals of Gas Flaring: Types, Causes, and Climate Impact | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Shayle opens by outlining the apparent contradiction of wasting valuable natural gas through flaring. Tomas educates him on the core distinctions between routine and non-routine flaring, as well as the underlying safety and global warming potential metrics. | |
| Economic Drivers and Unconventional Well Dynamics in Flaring | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Tomas details how unconventional wells experience steep decline curves that disincentivize pipeline buildouts and explains real-world flare combustion efficiencies of 92%. Shayle demonstrates strong domain knowledge by calculating that flaring constitutes roughly 1% of total global GHG emissions. | |
| Geographic Breakdown of Global Flaring and Top Emitting Nations | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Tomas identifies the top nine flaring countries and clarifies that US flaring volume is a product of overall scale rather than high flaring intensity. Shayle pushes into why operators still burn diesel on-site rather than utilizing free local gas. | |
| Mid-Roll Advertisements: Bloom Energy, Engie, and Energy Hub | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Following mid-roll advertisements, Shayle posits that gas reinjection is a pure cost like flaring, which Tomas corrects by explaining its use in enhanced oil recovery. Tomas then details reservoir physics and capital allocation trade-offs. | |
| Alternative Utilization: CNG, LNG, GTL, and Remote Data Centers | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Shayle displays strong market expertise by categorizing gas utilization into mini-CNG/LNG, gas-to-liquids/methanol, and off-grid compute/Bitcoin mining. Tomas complements this framework with practical logistics and capital cost comparisons. | |
| Mitigating Non-Routine Flaring and Optimizing Combustion Efficiency | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Shayle challenges the assumption about operator scale, questioning why high flaring persists in infrastructure-dense regions like the Permian Basin. Tomas explains that operator fragmentation and gathering connectivity remain major hurdles. | |
| Policy Frameworks, Regulatory Mandates, and International Case Studies | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Shayle prompts a closing outlook on international policy mechanisms. Tomas highlights the necessity of regulatory mandates and cites historical precedents such as Norway's total ban and Nigeria's 70% reduction in flaring. |
Statements from this episode (13)
Bredariol: US gas flaring increased 20% in 2023, primarily in Permian Basin
“In the United States, flaring increased by about 20% last year, and most of this increase came from the Permian Basin.”
Bredariol: Rapid production decline disincentivizes gas pipelines at unconventional oil wells
“Unconventional Oil wells, they produce relatively small volumes of associated natural gas, and they produce it for a relatively short amount of time. The volume decreases quite rapidly, as does with oil, right? And so they don't have, the operators don't have …”
Bredariol: 2023 global gas flaring exceeded Norway's total annual natural gas production
“So we have about a hundred and fifty billion cubic meters of natural gas being flared last year. These are the latest data from the World Bank. And if you want a comparison point, Norway's natural gas production was about a 120 billion cubic meters. So we flar…”
Bredariol: IEA estimates global flare combustion efficiency at 92%, not industry-claimed 98%
“We at the International Energy Agency estimate that the combustion efficiency of flares globally is at around 92%. That's a much lower number than what you might hear from the industry. They will often refer to 98%, but it's in line with several scientific stu…”
Bredariol: Global flaring emissions exceed all international flights combined
“Considering a global warming potential for methane of 30, that's in a hundred years timeframe, that would be over five hundred million tons of CO₂ equivalent. That's more than all international flights last year. And it's just a bit below all the CO₂ emissions…”
Bredariol: Nine countries account for 75% of global gas flaring
“For over decades, Gas flaring around the world is concentrated in nine countries. That's Russia, Iran, Iraq, the United States, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, and Mexico. If we look at data for last year, these top nine countries were responsible for abou…”
Bredariol: Most global flaring sites are within 20 kilometers of existing pipelines
“When we look at, you know, the 8000 or more flaring sites across the world. And we take into account existing pipelines, demand centers, and other characteristics. The majority of these sites could probably use a connection to a pipeline. Many of these are act…”
Bredariol: Most oil facilities run on diesel replaceable by on-site natural gas
“If you look at the industry as a whole, most of the facilities are running some amount of diesel generation, and that could be replaced by natural gas.”
Bredariol: Small-Scale GTL and Gas-to-Methanol Face Cost Disadvantages Versus CNG and LNG
“Gas to methanol and gas to liquids in general, they are much more expensive projects. I would say that in general, just as broad lines, it will certainly depend on the details of the project. You would go from Mini-CNG to Mini-LNG to GTL. In terms of prices. S…”
Bredariol: Offshore flare mitigation is essentially limited to LNG
“All of those options are more on the table for onshore. Maybe offshore you can do LNG, but otherwise all of those options are kind of off the table.”
Bredariol: Continuous routine flaring accounts for roughly 70% of flared gas
“So maybe two thirds or 70% of all flared volumes are these continuous flares that are operating every day and are essentially a way to get rid of this associated gas.”
Bredariol: Most Flaring Volume Comes From Middle-Sized Flares
“If you look at kind of the general distribution of flares, most of the volumes are in what you might call middle-sized flares, but there's a large contingent which is small flares. And then it's where the economics might become a bit more challenging.”