A recent study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) does not have consistent policies to regulate the venting and flaring of natural gas at thousands of oil and natural gas wells. The study said BLM sometimes allows oil and gas companies to improperly burn off the gas without paying royalties.
According to the GAO report, more than 90 percent of requests from oil and gas operators to vent or flare in 2014 did not sufficiently document why they needed to flare or vent gas. The report found that the BLM gave permission to 70 percent of the requests that lacked satisfactory documentation. The results of BLM’s permitting unnecessary flaring and venting are lost royalties and the intentional release of greenhouse gases.
Following the release of the study, oil and gas industry spokespeople argued that the reason for the large amount of requests without proper documentation was because the BLM makes it difficult to permit gas lines. GAO’s findings refute this claim — only 9 percent of requests to flare or vent cited “lack of infrastructure.”
The GAO report highlights the need for a proposed methane standard now under review by the Office of Management and Budget. The proposed rule would increase scrutiny before approval of flaring and venting requests, while requiring companies to provide the BLM with documentation that they will capture associated gas prior to being approved to drill for oil and gas on public lands.
North Dakota Provides Example For BLM
WORC member group Dakota Resource Council was successful in forcing North Dakota oil and gas companies to file “gas capture plans” with their application to drill permits as a part of North Dakota’s effort to curb out of control flaring through rule-making in 2014. The North Dakota “gas capture plans” provide regulators and groups like Dakota Resource Council with clear documentation of how companies plan to capture gas after they drill. WORC groups will continue to work to ensure the BLM methane rules contain planning and do not allow out of control flaring and venting as the rule moves toward finalization in the coming months.