CATF  FACT  SHEET:  BAKKEN  FLARING  IN  FOCUS:  A  CLOSE  LOOK  AT  NATURAL  GAS  FLARING  IN  NORTH  DAKOTA  

 

 

JUNE  2014  The  Bakken  formation  in  North  Dakota  is  experiencing  an  oil  and  gas  boom   driven   by   the   use   of   newer   drilling   technologies,   specifically  horizontal  drilling  and  hydraulic  fracturing.    A  considerable  amount  of  attention  has  recently  been  directed  at  the  Bakken  and  its  high  flaring  rate.     Local   residents,   state   government   and   Federal   officials   have  voiced   concerns   over   the   flaring   of   gas   in   North   Dakota.     In   2013,  industry   flared  32%  of  all  gas  produced   in   the  Bakken.    A  number  of  reasons   have   been   cited   for   why   so   much   flaring   is   occurring,  including   inability   to   get   permits   for   pipelines   from   federal   land  managers  and  lack  of  pipeline  infrastructure,  among  others.    However,  a  close   look  at  the  data  for  flaring  on  a  well-­‐by-­‐well  basis  tells  a  very  different  story.  

 

There   are   several   reasons  why   gas   is   flared   from  wells   connected   to  pipelines:    

• Gathering  and  processing  infrastructure  (pipelines,  processing  plants,  and  compressors)  is  not  sufficient  to  handle  the  amount  of  gas  being  produced.  If  pipelines  are  too  small,  they  won’t  be  able  to  transport  all  the  produced   gas.   If   compression   is   insufficient,   there   could   be  pressure   imbalances   between  multiple  wells  connected  to  the  same  gathering  pipeline,  which  could  make  it  difficult  to  transport  gas.  

• Production   companies   might   not   be   able   to   come   to   agreement   to   sell   their   gas   to   midstream   gas  processing  companies.  

           

 

*These  statistics  are  for  wells  located  on  Federal  Public  lands  and  Private/State  lands.    Some  of  the  wells  on  Federal  lands  are  producing  gas  from  state  or  private  mineral  estate,  so  these  figures  do  not  match  ONRR  figures  for  production  from  Federal  or  American  Indian  mineral  estate.      

Figure  3:  Breakdown  of  Flaring  by  Well  Status,  2013    

 

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Figure  1:  Gas  Utilization  in  North  Dakota,  2013  

 

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Figure  2:  Breakdown  of  Flaring  by  Land  Status,  2013  

 

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The  majority   of   flaring   in   2013   occurred   at  wells   located   on  private-­‐  or  state-­‐owned  land  (72%).    The  rate  of   flaring   is  no  higher  on  Federal  public  lands  than  on  private  /  state  land.*    In  addition,   57%  of   the   flaring   statewide   is   from  wells   that   are  already  connected  to  natural  gas  gathering  pipelines.      

 

 CATF    |  ND  FLARING  IN  FOCUS  |    2  

For  each  type  of  land,  both  Private/State  and  Federal,  the  majority  of  flaring  occurs  from  wells  that  are  already  connected  to  pipelines.  Although  the  total  flaring  rate  (the  portion  of  gas  that  is  produced  that  is  flared)  is  higher  on  the  Fort  Berthold  Indian  Reservation  than  the  statewide  average,  it  is  no  higher  on  Federal  public  lands  –  in  fact,  it  is  slightly  lower  on  Federal  public  lands  than  on  Private  /  State  land.        

   

 2013  Production  or  Flaring  (Million  Cubic  Feet)  

Entire  State  (ND)  

Private  /  State  Land  

Fort  Berthold  Indian  

Reservation  

Other  Federal  Land  

Total  Gas  Produced     335,665   262,123   46,849   26,693  Total  Flared  from  Isolated  Wells   44,284   32,660   9,308   2,316  

Flared  from  Isolated  Wells  as  Percent  of  Total  Produced   13%   12%   20%   9%  

Total  Flared  from  Pipeline  Connected  Wells   59,539   42,252   12,444   4,843  

Flared  from  Pipeline  Connected  Wells  as  Percent  of  Total  Produced  

18%   16%   27%   18%  

Total  Flared   103,823   74,912   21,751   7,160  Total  Flared  as  Percent  of  Total  Produced   31%   29%   46%   27%  

 Data  for  this  fact  sheet  was  calculated  from  individual  well  production  and  flaring  data  from  the  North  Dakota  Industrial  Commission.    Analysis  was  performed  by  Clean  Air  Task  Force  and  Earthjustice.  

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 CATF    |  ND  FLARING  IN  FOCUS  |    3