Natural gas venting and flaring in North Dakota and Texas increased in 2019

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) 2020 Natural Gas Annual reports that the volume of U.S. natural gas that was vented and flared in 2019 was 1.48 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), a record high annual average. The percentage of U.S. natural gas that was vented and flared in 2019 increased to 1.3% of gross withdrawals, the highest share recorded in EIA data. As crude oil production has outpaced the construction of necessary infrastructure to transport the natural gas extracted during oil production, or associated natural gas, it has been increasingly vented and flared. More »