UK North Sea flaring has fallen by 50% following four consecutive years of reductions while venting last year increased, said the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).
EMISSIONS
Offshore flaring, when excess gas is burned off, decreased in 2022 by 13% to 22 billion cubic feet (bcf), contributing to a total reduction of 50% since 2018 when volumes totalled 44 bcf.
“Last year’s reduction alone was equivalent to the gas demand of 80,000 UK homes, a boost for the UK’s energy security and net zero ambitions,” added the NSTA.
Approximately a fifth of emissions from North Sea oil and gas production activities come from flaring, mainly resulting in carbon dioxide emissions.
NSTA said that although some flaring was unavoidable for safety and operational reasons, the regulatory body had been consistently clear that more could be done to prevent the waste of gas.
VENTING
Venting, when gas is released without being burned, rose by 5% to 2.9 bcf in 2022.
The increase followed particularly low levels in mid-2021 because of prolonged maintenance shutdowns across multiple platforms coinciding with upgrades of major pipelines.
Venting represents about 0.15% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions and less than 5% of North Sea production emissions.
ROLE OF INDUSTRY
The NSTA director of strategy Hedvig Ljungerud added that the reduction in flaring was “hugely encouraging”.
“Industry also deserves credit for making this progress.
“The NSTA expects reductions to continue and remains firmly focused on both supporting and challenging industry on emissions, including from flaring and venting.”
PENALTIES
The NSTA started benchmarking flaring performance in 2020 and the following year issued tougher guidance, stating all new developments should have no routine flaring and venting, with zero routine flaring across all North Sea platforms, whether new or existing, by 2030 at the latest.
In addition to tracking, monitoring and reporting performance, the NSTA closely scrutinises operators’ applications for flaring consents, resists requests to increase flaring and has ordered operators to temporarily restrict production to stay within agreed limits.
The NSTA has also used sanctions powers for consents breaches, and issued fines in late 2022.