Upstream petroleum industry flaring and venting report : Industry performance for year ending December 31, 2004

Since 1938, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) has made the reduction of routine flaring and venting of solution gas a priority. The EUB has been acknowledged internationally for its achievements in reducing flaring and venting. The EUB's goal is to eliminate the routine flaring and venting of solution gas in order to address energy conservation and public safety. This report describes how the EUB fulfills its information mandate regarding flaring and venting. It is published in response to a commitment made by the EUB to make flaring and venting data more accessible. The EUB and the Clean Air Strategic Alliance have established baselines for flaring and venting. Regulations, enforcement and industry cooperation have resulted in major reductions in the amount of solution gas flared and vented. This report provides a summary of flared and vented volumes for the different oil and gas industry sources, such as well tests, gas plants, gas gathering systems, transmission lines, and batteries. It also contains detailed information on solution gas conserved, flared, and vented during 2003. Ranking of companies was established based on solution gas flared plus vented, solution gas flared, and solution gas vented, from crude oil and bitumen batteries. The data used in the preparation of this report was submitted by companies. The data demonstrates that considerable progress has been made in the reduction of flaring and venting volumes for all upstream oil and gas sources. Solution gas conservation for 2004 was 96.0 per cent, the highest conservation level achieved to date. Solution gas flaring for 2004 was 72.2 per cent less than the 1996 flaring baseline, compared to 70.0 per cent less than the baseline in 2003. tabs., figs