North Dakota Weakens Natural Gas Flaring Policy

(BISMARCK, ND – Apr. 17, 2018) Today, the North Dakota Industrial Commission amended the state’s gas capture rules in an attempt to limit flaring of natural gas. The amendments came at the recommendation of the North Dakota Petroleum Council’s flaring task force, which was reconvened last February. The original gas capture rules were first implemented in 2014, when the state was burning off roughly one-third of the gas it produced. 

“Instead of addressing the true deficiencies in the current flaring policy, which it has been loath to enforce, the North Dakota Industrial Commission further weakened it by expanding loopholes and exemptions. Operators in the state have already wasted $850 million worth of natural gas by flaring. It’s a problem likely to get worse.

“Those seeking to roll back the Bureau of Land Management methane waste protections for federal and tribal lands often point to state policies that they say obviate the need for a federal response. North Dakota’s failed effort to curb flaring, however, is a prime example of why rolling back these protections is a bad idea.”
 

• Dan Grossman, National Director of State Programs, Oil and Gas