Gas flaring at many oil and gas production sites protects against the dangers of over-pressuring industrial plant equipment . An example of the consequences of failure to flare escaping gas was evident in the Bhopal disaster when a flare tower was broken and could n't flare escaping methyl isocyanate gas ( The gas had been in an overpressured tank and released by a safety valve ) , which resulted in its release into the surrounding area . When petroleum crude oil is extracted and produced from oil wells , raw natural gas associated with the oil is brought to the surface as well . Especially in areas of the world lacking pipelines and other gas transportation infrastructure , vast amounts of such associated gas are commonly flared as waste or unusable gas . The flaring of associated gas may occur at the top of a vertical flare stack ( as in the adjacent photo ) or it may occur in a ground-level flare in an earthen pit . Preferably , associated gas is reinjected into the reservoir , which saves it for future use while maintaining higher well pressure and crude oil producibility
Bhopal disaster
Bhopal disaster
Gas flare