World Bank Seeks to End Practice of Oil Well Flaring

The World Bank seeks to use its economic power to affect changes that can improve the environment. One recent push has involved setting a global standard regarding the practice of “flaring,” or burning off unwanted gas from oil wells.

By doing so, the World Bank hopes to end both a needless waste of resources and reduce the creation of greenhouse gasses. According to a report by the Associated Press, the World Bank’s executives hope to use their clout to influence the world’s largest oil-producing countries and companies to agree to the new policy.

The World Bank seeks to use its economic power to affect changes that can improve the environment. One recent push has involved setting a global standard regarding the practice of “flaring,” or burning off unwanted gas from oil wells.

By doing so, the World Bank hopes to end both a needless waste of resources and reduce the creation of greenhouse gasses. According to a report by the Associated Press, the World Bank’s executives hope to use their clout to influence the world’s largest oil-producing countries and companies to agree to the new policy.

The World Bank believes that doing so could not only reduce pollution, but also provide access to energy in lower-income countries. Each year, nearly 140 billion cubic meters of gas, equal to about four percent of world production, burn in these flaring practices exercised by the oil industry.

According to the World Bank, the amount of energy lost thanks to this practice could generate more power than the energy needs of the entire African continent today. The push appears to be drawing interest, with many large oil-producing countries, including Russia, Norway, Kazakhstan, and Angola, and companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil, and Total, already signing up to participate in the initiative. The World Bank launched its program in April, 2015.

The World Bank’s initiate asks member nations and companies to end routine flaring from oil production sites by 2030.The nations and companies that have signed up so far represent about 40 percent of the world’s flaring.

However, a number of other large oil-producing nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Canada, Nigeria, and the United States, and oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron have yet to agree to the plan.

The World Bank’s Senior Director for Energy, Anita George, said she wants this program to create a “de facto global industry standard.” She added that the World Bank was “working very closely with a number of other countries” in an effort to get them to join the initiative. Talks in Paris regarding an international agreement to attack climate change begin on November 30. The World Bank’s anti-flaring project expects to figure prominently in their contribution to the discussion.

When unwanted “associated” gas releases during oil production, burning it off in a flare is often the easiest way to dispose of it safely. But flares generate local pollution, including black carbon — a component of soot — as well as heat, light and noise.

The oil flares spew tons of pollution, largely in the form of carbon dioxide, into the air each year. Russia has been the worst culprit in this practice, by far, wasting more gas than any other nation in the world.

Nigeria, Iran, and Iraq come in second through fourth, respectively.

The US has also been guilty of the practice and there was a sharp increase beginning in 2010 following the shale oil boom.  There is little in the way of outright opposition to the plan, but several countries and companies have been reluctant to agree.

In general, these entities cite lack of market resources and infrastructure as reasons why capturing gas, rather than burning it off, remain unappealing to them.

Still, with such significant pressure from the rest of the world and the changing winds of public opinion regarding the impact of such practices on the environment, it seems only a matter of time until even these holdouts consent to end the practice.