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Despite promises from oil and gas companies, venting and flaring of natural gas is on the rise during the Trump administration. In 2018, Exxon Mobil burned off 70 percent more gas than it did the year before, according to an analysis by The New York Times. The practice releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change.
Venting and flaring from the Permian Basin in Texas alone consumed more natural gas last year than entire states like Arizona and South Carolina use in a year, the Times reported. Last year, oil and gas companies across the Bakken, Permian, and Eagle Ford basins burned or released a combined 320 million cubic feet of gas, an increase of more than 40 percent in five years—and 2019 is on pace to be even higher.
The Trump administration is attempting to eliminate Obama administration rules that would have required drillers to fix leaks and reduce flaring.
The Times reported that the practice varies wildly across the industry. Marathon Oil now vents or flares more than half of the gas produced at its wells in the Bakken, surpassing Exxon Mobil as the most wasteful. Chevron, by contrast, has a venting and flaring rate of less than three percent, apparently driven by internal rules that discourage drilling in areas that would make it difficult to recover natural gas.
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