logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
33m 39s

Why are we still flaring gas?

Latitude Media
About this episode

Oil producers waste a lot of natural gas. Last year they flared 150 billion cubic meters of associated gas into the atmosphere, equivalent to about half the global carbon emissions of aviation over a 30-year period.

So why are oil producers burning a valuable commodity like gas?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Tomás de Oliveira Bredariol, an energy and environmental policy analyst focused on methane at the IEA. So far, multiple major global initiatives haven’t made a dent in flare volumes, which have remained largely flat since 2010. Shayle and Tomás talk about the reasons why and the potential solutions, covering topics like:

  • The nine countries responsible for about three quarters of flare volumes
  • Why we don’t just build more pipelines
  • Why oil wells may choose expensive diesel instead of powering their equipment with associated gas
  • Converting gas into more valuable forms, like compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, or methanol
  • The potential for regulation and financial incentives to push producers to cut flare volumes


Recommended resources

International Energy Agency: Curtailing Methane Emissions from Fossil Fuel Operations

National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Stranded Natural Gas Roadmap

World Bank: Global Gas Flaring Data

Catalyst is brought to you by Anza Renewables, a data, technology, and services platform for solar and storage buyers. Anza’s real-time market intel equips buyers with the essential data they need to get the best deals. Download Anza’s free Q2 Module Pricing Insights Report at go.anzarenewables.com/latitude 

Catalyst is brought to you by Kraken, the advanced operating system for energy. Kraken is helping utilities offer excellent customer service and develop innovative products and tariffs through the connection and optimization of smart home energy assets. Already licensed by major players across the globe, including Origin Energy, E.ON, and EDF, Kraken can help you create a smarter, greener grid. Visit kraken.tech.

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the global leader in integrated marketing, public relations, creative, and public affairs for energy and climate brands. If you're a startup, investor, or enterprise that's trying to make a name for yourself, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help tell your story and accelerate your growth engine. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Up next
Oct 6
Frontier Forum: A new playbook for clean energy growth
After the failure of federal climate legislation in 2010, clean energy advocates realized they had to look elsewhere for momentum. The result was a shift toward states and regional markets — and the creation of Advanced Energy United, a trade group built to make policy progress o ... Show More
31m 57s
Oct 2
The new wave of DERs
Demand response was the original distributed energy resource. In its early days, it was surprisingly manual: a grid operator would call up a large load, like a factory, and request a few hours of reduced demand during peak times. Fast forward to today and DERs look dramatically d ... Show More
39m 3s
Sep 25
Ag residue and carbon removal
Agricultural byproducts like corn stover, wood chips, and soybean husks typically get left to decompose and release carbon dioxide. Don’t call them “waste” though; some farmers use these byproducts as field cover to improve soil health. And industry uses a fraction of this biomas ... Show More
35m 16s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 23
EQT Says High Power Bills to Drive Energy Development
Anger over rising energy costs will eventually force states to allow more natural gas infrastructure to be built in the US, according to one of the nation’s largest producers of the fuel. “We’ve never produced more energy than we’re producing now, but Americans’ energy bills are ... Show More
12m 7s
Aug 2024
Fuel for Thought: Rising Tide of LNG May Become a Glut
A wave of new liquefied natural gas projects are due to be commissioned by the end of the decade. Yet a sharp increase in supply runs the risk of creating a glut, and with the rise of this transportable commodity, what impacts one market could have a ripple effect around the worl ... Show More
35m 50s
Dec 2024
Our Energy Future: Balancing climate goals with reliable supply
The world is grappling with the need to hit the global Net Zero by 2050 target which means the net amount of greenhouse gases emitted into, and removed from, the atmosphere is zero by that date. All the while providing safe, secure and affordable energy for citizens. A tug of war ... Show More
32m 39s
Oct 2024
Oil and Gas This Week | Oct 23 2024 | Ep 359
OGTW Live Hours-long toxic gas leak at Pemex oil refinery near Houston far exceeded legal limit https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pemexs-deer-park-oil-refinery-scales-back-operations-after-fatal-accident-2024-10-12 U.S. crude oil falls below $71 per barrel, continuing sell- ... Show More
30m 59s
Jan 2025
Big Debates: The State of the Energy Transition
In the latest edition of our Big Debates miniseries, Morgan Stanley Research analysts discuss the factors that will shape the global energy market in 2025 and beyond, and where to look for investment opportunities. ----- Transcript ----- Michelle Weaver: Welcome to Thoughts on th ... Show More
13m 56s
Dec 2023
The storylines of the energy transition in 2023
The competing trends in the energy transition from 2023 were stark: a looming peak in demand for oil, gas, and coal; a global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels; and an increasingly realistic pathway to triple renewables development.But we also experienced the hottest ... Show More
57m 15s
Jan 2025
Driving Procurement Efficiencies for Oil & Gas - with Faraz Shahid of Cheniere Energy
Today’s guest is Faraz Shahid, Supply Chain Center of Excellence Lead at Cheniere Energy. Cheniere Energy is an American liquefied natural gas company headquartered in Houston, Texas. From automation to predictive AI, Faraz shares his perspective on how technology is reshaping pr ... Show More
26m 54s
May 2025
How cutting methane emissions became energy sector's big climate opportunity
In this episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we take a deep dive into methane. After carbon dioxide, methane is the greenhouse gas that contributes most to global warming. It is also far more potent than carbon dioxide. The fossil fuel sector is responsible for nearly o ... Show More
48m 25s
Feb 2025
The Energy Story of the Moment: The Unstoppable Rise of Solar Vs. the Unmovable Demand for Global Fossil Fuels
Fans of green energy like me face some inconvenient truths about the global energy picture. First, coal sounds like a dirty technology that the rich world is moving on from. But nearly 9 billion tons of coal were burned last year—an all-time high. Second, "peak oil" is a predicti ... Show More
1h 12m
Apr 2025
What do the tariff wars mean for low-carbon energy? | Recorded live at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar & Energy Storage Summit
“With great uncertainty comes great opportunity”, says Abby Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, in this special episode of the Energy Gang, recorded live at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar & Energy Storage Summit.Is she right? And what are those oppo ... Show More
30m 13s