Abstract Flaring has been a longstanding practice in the oil and gas industry. The global community recognizes routine flaring as a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and resource wastage. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, aligning itself with the United Arab Emirates’ national sustainability vision. This paper presents the various in-house modifications and improvements carried out in one of the ADNOC Onshore oil fields reducing the carbon footprint and thereby supporting the company and the nation to achieve the net- zero target. The following modifications were proposed and successfully implemented by the Asset Operations Team. Nitrogen is introduced as a blanketing for the water separation tanks, disposal water tanks and various drain vessels replacing fuel gas. Settle out startup logic was developed for gas injection and gas lift compressors avoiding depressurization of the compressors’ holdup volume before the start up. (settle out condition: starting a compressor in the pressurized state after a trip / stop without a need to depressurize it). Avoiding the flaring during the pigging operation of various transfer lines between Central Degassing Station (CDS) and Gathering Station including satellite field trunk line. For all the individual modifications, numerous brainstorming sessions were carried out with all the stakeholders including technical experts. The Management of Change (MOC) process was adhered to, and original equipment vendors were involved. For each modification, a detailed plan was developed, and the resources were allocated accordingly. To minimize the cost, asset operations executed the proposals using the in-house resources. These initiatives enhanced the plant's operational performance and reliability while reducing flaring by 101 million standard cubic feet (MMSCF) per year, which equates to a reduction of 6,120 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
Arif et al. (2025) studied this question.