Moving toward Zero Routine Flaring in the Permian Basin Oil and Gas Production Region: Measuring Progress and Driving Factors

The Permian Basin oil and gas production region in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico in the United States, one of the largest oil and gas production regions in the world, has seen an approximately 70% reduction in basin average flaring from 2020 to 2022. In 2019, the Permian had basin average flaring of >4% of produced gas, a flaring rate larger than the global average flaring rate of 3.5%, roughly double the 2019 US national average of approximately 1.8% and roughly four times the current US national average of approximately 1%. Between 2020 and the end of 2022, however, basin average flaring decreased in the Permian Basin from >4% to approximately 1.2%. This work uses reports of flaring activity in the states of Texas and New Mexico to examine the multiple factors that enabled and drove those changes, including infrastructure availability, new well development, regulations, and voluntary corporate efforts to achieve zero routine flaring. Key drivers of the reduction in flaring from >4% to 1.2% have been new availability of infrastructure to deliver gases to markets and reduced flaring during the initial years of new well production. In addition, company specific data indicate that multiple organizations, many of whom have announced voluntary initiatives to reduce flaring and market their gas to exporters that encourage reduced flaring, have been able to achieve flaring rates of <0.5% of gas production. This suggests that, provided sufficient gas transport infrastructure and economic incentives or regulations are in place, flaring rates of <0.5% of gas production are possible in the Permian Basin, a flaring rate that is substantially below both US and global average flaring rates. To achieve zero routine flaring, the development of infrastructure should keep pace with the development of the resource. This can also reduce the overall lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of U.S. gas exports out of the Permian Basin and ensure they are competitive on an emissions basis with other resource basins.