	Flaring and Venting Data Are Limited, but the Federal Government Has Opportunities to Improve Them

In the United States, DOE’s EIA collects and reports data provided  voluntarily by the states on the amount of natural gas flared and vented, but  the data are incomplete, inconsistent, and not as useful as they could be  from an environmental perspective. EIA could improve flaring and  venting data by enhancing its guidance to states and collecting data directly  from oil and gas producers; EIA, MMS, and BLM could also improve data by  collecting and reporting data on venting separately from data on flaring. Many states do not provide this information, however, and EIA has no  authority to require them to do so. Since flaring and venting data are not a high priority for EIA,  the agency has provided only limited guidelines to states to promote  consistency in the information that they voluntarily submit. As a result,  only 8 of the 32 oil- and gas-producing states provide data that EIA  considers consistent, leaving EIA to estimate the amount of flaring and  venting in the other 24 states. Although  worldwide estimates of flaring and venting constitute a small portion of  total greenhouse gas emissions, many countries have undertaken efforts to  reduce flaring and venting. Three Percent of the World Production of Natural Gas Is Flared or Vented, Which Represents a Significant Amount of Unused Resources

While flaring and venting represent only 3 percent of the total natural gas  production, the natural gas flared and vented—about 100 billion cubic  meters a year—is enough to meet the annual natural gas consumption of  both France and Germany. Investigating Market Barriers Affecting Associated Gas and Continuing to Work with Other Countries Could Help Reduce Global Flaring and Venting

The government could also have an effect on flaring and venting worldwide  by (1) addressing market barriers affecting gas produced outside the  United States that would otherwise be flared or vented and (2) continuing  to work with other countries. Second, because of the limited guidance on what data to report,  EIA considers most of the information it receives from the states to be  inconsistent. Third, the data collected do not distinguish between flared  gas and vented gas—an important distinction, since the methane emitted  during venting is potentially much more harmful to the atmosphere than  the carbon dioxide emitted during flaring. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Regarding natural gas flaring and venting from oil and gas production in the  United States and the rest of the world, you asked us to (1) describe the  data collected and reported on natural gas flaring and venting and what the  federal government could do to improve it; (2) report, on the basis of  available information, on the extent of flaring and venting and its  contribution to greenhouse gases; and (3) identify opportunities for the  federal government to reduce such flaring and venting.
Why GAO Did This Study

Since 1995, the average price of natural gas in the United States has almost tripled as demand has grown faster than supply. Despite this increase, natural gas is regularly lost as it is burned (flared) and released into the atmosphere (vented) during the production of oil and gas. GAO was asked to (1) describe flaring and venting data and what the federal government could do to improve them; (2) report, on the basis of available information, on the extent of flaring and venting and their contributions to greenhouse gases; and (3) identify opportunities for the federal government to reduce flaring and venting.

What GAO Found

U.S. and global data on natural gas flaring and venting are limited. First, the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects and reports data voluntarily provided by oil- and gas-producing states. Because EIA has no authority to require states to report, some do not, leading to incomplete data. Second, EIA has provided limited guidance to states to promote consistent reporting. As a result, only about one-fourth of the states reporting provide data that EIA considers consistent. Third, the data EIA collects do not distinguish between flared gas and vented gas--an important distinction since they have dramatically different environmental impacts. Data on flaring and venting outside the United States are also limited, since many countries report unreliable data or none at all. To improve data on flaring and venting, EIA could use its authority to collect data directly from oil and gas producers; to obtain more consistent data, EIA could improve its guidelines for reporting. From an environmental perspective, EIA, the Minerals Management Service, and the Bureau of Land Management could require flaring and venting data to be reported separately from each other. Globally, the federal government could set an example by continuing to improve U.S. data, continuing to support global efforts, and using U.S. satellite data to detect unreported flaring. On the basis of the limited data available, the amount of gas emitted through flaring and venting worldwide is small compared with global natural gas production and represents a small portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, flaring and venting have adverse environmental impacts and result in the loss of a significant amount of energy. Annually, over 100 billion cubic meters of gas are flared or vented worldwide--enough to meet the natural gas needs of France and Germany for a year. While flaring and venting do occur in the United States, less than 1 percent of global production is flared and vented. Opportunities exist in several areas to help reduce flaring and venting, both in the United States and globally. For example, exploring ways to address market barriers affecting associated gas could help identify approaches to reduce global flaring and venting.