The World Bank recently released its annual Gas Flaring Tracker, reporting that global natural gas flaring reached 151 billion cubic meters last year, the highest level since 2007. Nine major flaring countries account for three-quarters of this total: Russia, Iran, Iraq, the United States, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Mexico, and Nigeria.
Gas flaring is a common practice in oil production, but it has significant environmental impacts, exacerbating the global climate change crisis and resulting in massive resource waste. Last year, global natural gas flaring could meet Sub-Saharan Africa's annual natural gas demand. In 2015, the World Bank spearheaded the Zero Flaring Initiative, aiming to eliminate all routine flaring by 2030. Currently, it has the support of 36 countries and 60 oil and gas companies worldwide. Statistics show that countries supporting the initiative have seen an average 12% decrease in flaring intensity, while those not participating have seen a 25% increase.
Furthermore, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for the elimination of all routine flaring, except for emergency operations, by 2030. Last year, the total value of natural gas flared reached $63 billion at EU import prices.
Global natural gas flaring has experienced ups and downs in recent years. In 2022, global flaring fell to 139 billion cubic meters, the lowest level since 2010, but then rebounded in 2023 and 2024. Different countries have also differed in their response to flaring. In recent years, countries such as Angola, Egypt, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan have strengthened regulations, and flaring has declined. However, Alberta, a major oil-producing province in Canada, exceeded its flaring limits last year and the year before, leading regulators to lift the limits in June.
