Basic Methods of Treating In Oil & Gas Production

Most oil can’t just be pumped out of the ground and sold. It needs to be treated,
to one extent or another, to separate the water, sediment, and other
contaminants from the hydrocarbons. There’s a few basic methods of treating
crude oil, some as simple as time, and others more complex. If separation
happens in just a few moments or minutes, as when gas separates from fluid, it’s
called flash separation. Separation that takes longer is called slow separation.

Depending on how the well is producing, different treatment methods might be

available. In higher producing wells, using more chemical may be necessary in
order to speed up the separation process. Wells that only produce small
amounts may have more time to treat the oil, and are able to let gravity and
motion do more of the work. In most cases, the best option is going to be to use
several different treating methods together.

Chemical Treatment
Chemical treatment is used on most operations, and is often the first step in
separation. One type of chemical, called surfactant, can be added before the
separator or even at the wellhead. Surfactant is oil soluble, and will reduce the
surface tension of water and heavier elements of oil. This aids in water breaking
out and falling away from oil.
Figure 1. Here you can see a tank for holding chemical, and the pump and lines
for adding chemicals at the wellhead.
Chemicals can be added to crude oil for several reasons, not just as part of the
separation process. 

Heat Treatment
Heat can be applied to oil as a way of reducing its viscosity, so that it floats to the
top of the water. Heater-treaters are vessels that use heat from a firebox to aid
in treating oil. The firebox may only be lit during colder months, and heat from
the sun used in warmer months. Flow lines are often run above ground so that
they can also be heated by the sun.
It’s often a goal to use as little heat as possible, as gas fuel for the firebox can be
expensive. A growing trend is to eliminate artificial heat all together. Methods
toward that goal are being developed, but it may be a few years before it’s truly
possible to not use any heat at all.

 
Electrical Treatment
A variation of the standard vertical heater-treater is the electrical heater-treater.
For high volume production, it may be the most efficient method of treating oil.
However, it’s usually costly to run electrical lines to a lease, and the cost of using
electricity for that purpose can also be expensive. Electrical heater-treaters are
going to be economical for operations where the volume is high, or on offshore
platforms where space is at a premium.

What is gas flaring?

Gas flaring is the burning of the natural gas associated with oil
extraction. The practice has persisted since the beginning of oil
production over 160 years ago. It takes place due to a range of issues,
from market and economic constraints, to a lack of appropriate
regulation and political will. Flaring is a waste of a valuable natural
resource that should either be used for productive purposes, such as
generating power, or conserved. For instance, the amount of gas
currently flared each year – about 140 billion cubic meters – could
power the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

Image: Ed Kashi/World Bank

Why is gas flared?
Flaring persists to this day because it is a relatively safe, though
wasteful and polluting, method of disposing of the associated gas that
comes from oil production. Utilizing associated gas often requires
economically viable markets for companies to make the investments
necessary to capture, transport, process, and sell the gas.

Image: think4photop
Safety reasons
Flaring may be required for safety reasons. Extracting and processing
oil and gas involves dealing with exceptionally high, and changeable,
pressures. During crude oil extraction, a sudden or dramatic increase in
pressure could cause an explosion. Although rare, industrial accidents
involving oil and gas can result in destructive, dangerous, and long-
lasting fires that are difficult to contain and control. Gas flaring allows
operators to de-pressurize their equipment and manage unpredictable
and large pressure variations by burning any excess gas.

Economic and technical reasons

In many cases, oil fields are located in remote and inaccessible places.
These sites are hard to access and may not produce consistent or large
volumes of associated gas that operators can use. This can make it
logistically and economically challenging to transport associated gas to
where it can be processed and utilized. Additionally, capturing and
using the associated gas is often viewed as prohibitively expensive if oil
production sites are small and dispersed over a large geographic area.
In these instances, the associated gas is typically flared.

Sometimes, where it's impossible to utilize the gas, the local geology
will allow it to be conserved by re-injection back into the reservoir.
However, this too, is not always feasible despite recent technological
advances.

Regulatory reasons
In some cases, while capturing and utilizing associated gas is
economically and technically feasible, a country's laws and
regulations might make it difficult for, or even forbid, companies from
commercializing associated gas. For example, a company may have
secured the rights to extract oil but may not have the right to use the
associated gas produced during extraction. In other instances,
regulations may not specify how associated gas is to be handled
commercially. This creates legal ambiguity on how associated gas
should be processed. Additionally, regulations that impose penalties on
companies that flare gas may not always be effective at curtailing the
practice, and especially if flaring and paying a penalty is more
economically viable than capturing the gas and selling it. GGFR works
with governments to help create the right policies and regulations so
that routine flaring comes to an end and the associated gas is used for
productive purposes.

What are the environmental impacts of gas flaring?

Thousands of gas flares at oil production sites worldwide burned
approximately 139 billion cubic meters of gas in 2022. Assuming a
‘typical’ associated gas composition, a flare combustion efficiency of
98% and a Global Warming Potential for methane of 28, each cubic
meter of associated gas flared results in about 2.6 kilograms of CO2
equivalent emissions (CO2e), resulting in over 350 million  tonnes of
CO2e emissions annually, of which around 42 million tonnes is emitted
in the form of unburnt methane. 

The methane emissions resulting from the inefficiency of the flare

combustion contribute significantly to global warming. This is
particularly so in the short to medium term as, according to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane is over 80 times
more powerful than carbon dioxide as a warming gas on a 20-year
timeframe. On this basis, the annual CO2e emissions from flaring
increase to around 126 million tonnes.

Flaring is, of course, totally unproductive and can be avoided far more
easily than many other sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The gas could be put to good use and potentially displace other more
polluting fuels, such as coal and diesel, that generate higher emissions
per energy unit.

Image: Gribov Andrei Aleksandrovich

In addition to these GHG emissions, black carbon - more commonly
known as soot - is another pollutant sometimes released by gas flares.
Black carbon is produced through the incomplete combustion of fossil
fuels and, despite remaining in the atmosphere for just a few days or
weeks, has a very large climate impact. This is of particular concern in
the Arctic, where black carbon deposits are believed to increase the
rate at which snow and ice is melting. Research from the European
Geosciences Union indicates that gas flaring emissions may contribute
about 40 percent of the annual black carbon deposits in the Arctic.

How can we reduce the amount of gas being flared?

Oil producers can either re-inject associated gas or use it for productive
purposes. However, operators often face significant challenges
capturing, treating, storing, transporting, and commercializing
associated gas, and the cost of ending all routine flaring could be more
than US$100 billion.

The traditional approach to flare gas utilization – collecting associated

gas and transporting it through a gas pipeline – is heavily dependent on
achieving economies of scale. To be viable, operators must typically
capture a large quantity of associated gas from many flare sites, ideally
located close to one another, and then build the infrastructure needed
to commercialize the gas. For example, to generate power and increase
energy access.

There are, however several alternative ways to address the routine gas
flaring problem. Oil operators can re-inject associated gas back into the
ground or build the infrastructure needed to capture, treat, store, and
transport the associated gas to market. Meanwhile, governments can
put in place a range of effective regulations and policies to incentivize
and encourage gas flaring reduction.

Oil production is often located in remote and inaccessible places.

Image: Nico Traut

Developments in small-scale gas utilization technologies have also
greatly improved the potential for associated gas use in recent years.
However, not all such technologies are economical, and much depends
on fuel and end-product prices. Small electricity generation plants,
truck-mounted, liquefied natural gas plants, and integrated
compressed natural gas systems are often viable alternatives to flaring
– but they can be expensive and even loss-making for an operator.

What is being done about gas flaring?

Encouragingly, while oil production has increased by roughly 26 percent
since 1996, the amount of associated gas flared has decreased by 16
percent. This means that the oil industry is making progress because
we are seeing a gradual decoupling of a long-standing correlation
between oil production and gas flaring.

Many oil field operators who flare associated gas, are making the
investments necessary to reduce flaring. Many have also made the
commitment to end routine flaring.

In 2015, the World Bank and the UN Secretary-General launched

the Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 (ZRF) initiative, which commits
governments and oil companies to not routinely flare gas in any new oil
field development and to end existing (legacy) routine flaring as soon as
possible and no later than 2030.

What is gas flaring?

Gas flaring is the term for burning off the gas which comes out of the ground while drilling
for oil.
The flares are the giant flames often seen coming out of smokestacks on oil installations. 
Gas can also be flared on the ground, at the top of an oil well. 
The practice is most common in countries such as Russia, the USA and the Gulf States. 
The World Bank estimates that globally there are 10,000 gas flares alight at any time and
says the amount of gas burnt off this way last year could have powered the whole of sub-
Saharan Africa. 
Why do energy companies flare gas?
Sometimes, it's essential to flare gas for safety reasons.
Oil collects underground in reservoirs and gas accumulates around it, which has to be drawn
off before the oil is drilled.
If there are sudden increases in pressure as the gas comes to the surface, explosions may
occur. 
Burning off the gas is a way of reducing the pressure.
This is known as "safety" or "non-routine" flaring.
However, energy firms often also flare gas as a way of saving money.
If they are drawing off only small amounts of gas - or are drilling in a remote area - they may
not think it worthwhile to spend money on collecting it and transporting it. 
Then, the gas is burnt off simply to get rid of it. This is known as "routine flaring".
How does gas flaring harm the environment? 
The World Bank estimates that in 2021 energy companies flared 144 billion cubic metres of
gas, putting into the atmosphere the equivalent of over 400m tonnes of carbon dioxide. 
That is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted in 9 trillion miles of car journeys.

IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES

Image caption, 
Gas flaring is one of the reasons why the Arctic ice cap is melting
Gas flaring also produces "black carbon", or soot.
The European Geosciences Union says gas flaring is responsible for 40% of the black carbon
which has built up in the Arctic, and is a key reason why the Arctic ice cap is melting.
 Greenhouse gas build-up hit new high in 2020
 Cutting methane gas 'crucial for climate fight'
 Who owns the Arctic's oil?

How does gas flaring harm people's health? 

Gas flaring puts a chemical called benzene into the air, which can give people who live
nearby headaches, tremors and irregular heartbeats. Benzene can also cause cancer.
Gas flaring also produces naphthalene, which can damage the eyes and the liver, and is
another possible cause of cancer.
Black carbon from gas flaring can cause breathing difficulties, respiratory disease, heart
disease and strokes. 
One study from the US suggests it can cause women to give birth prematurely. 
Which countries flare gas the most?
According to the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report, Russia, Iraq, Iran, the
United States, Venezuela, Algeria, and Nigeria have been responsible for most gas flaring
over the past 10 years.
It says Mexico, Libya, and China have also increased gas flaring in recent years.
These 10 countries together produce half of all the world's oil and are responsible for 75% of
gas flaring.

IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS
Image caption, 
Russia burnt gas at its Portovaya plant rather than selling it to Europe.
Russia has recently been flaring an estimated $10m worth of gas every day at a plant in
Portovaya near the border with Finland, at a time when Europe is experiencing an acute
natural gas shortage.
Experts say this is gas which it would previously have exported to Germany through the Nord
Stream 1 pipeline, which Russia closed in early September. 
 Russia burns off gas as Europe's energy bills rocket
The World Bank is trying to persuade energy companies to stop all unnecessary flaring of gas
by 2030 under its Zero Routine Flaring scheme. It acknowledges measures to cut gas
flaring could cost companies more than $100bn. 
Since 2015, 54 energy companies have signed up to its scheme, and so have 32 national
governments, including those of the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. 
Norway has started taxing energy firms for gas flaring and as a result has the lowest gas
flaring rates of all the big oil-producing countries.
The World Bank points out there have already been reductions in gas flaring globally over
the past two decades. 
While oil production has increased by roughly 20% since 1996, the amount of associated gas
flared has decreased by 13%.
What are the alternatives to gas flaring? 
The World Bank is urging energy firms to gather the gas and sell it to businesses and
consumers. 
However, the gas needs processing before it's safe to use as it contains harmful chemicals.
This is expensive, which is one reason why some companies prefer to flare the gas. 
The World Bank says there are other options.
Companies can use the gas in mobile electricity generating stations, to power their oil drilling
sites, or as a fuel in petrochemical plants. 
Another option is for firms to re-inject gas into the ground to raise the pressure in the oil
reservoirs, which would allow them to extract more oil. 
Some energy firms "vent" gas coming up from oil fields. They release it into the atmosphere
without burning it. 
However, this is even more harmful than gas flaring, because it puts methane into the
atmosphere, which is a powerful climate warming agent.
Why

In general, flaring is for pressure relief without simply venting dangerous chemicals to the
environment. Flaring often occurs during discovery and testing of an oil well. During
operation of a well, it can be that there are gases which are not economical to transport or
capture, and so are flared. It can also occur during chemical processing. In chemical
processing, flaring is usually to remove waste products or for emergency pressure relief.
Start-up and shutdown of plants are also common sources of flaring; the list of possible
examples is long. [1]

Products of flaring are often water and carbon dioxide with usually greater than 98%
combustion of volatile organic compounds. [3] This is excellent from a toxicity standpoint.
Depending on the inlet gasses, other products such as sulfur dioxide are possible, which can
be locally restricted. [4] Flaring can be used in place of venting waste streams to reduce the
load of toxic or greenhouse gasses, such as methane, which is more than 20 times as
deleterious as carbon dioxide towards global warming, where carbon dioxide is a direct
combustion product. [5] In this way, flaring is far more acceptable than venting, or simply
releasing chemicals into the atmosphere.

How

Basic description of units

for flaring:

In Fig. 2 is an example of a
flare attached for an
industrial plant. Here can be
seen an inlet flow for
pressure release, coupled to
a knockout drum for vapor-
liquid separation, that
liquids like oil and water
will not be drawn into the
flare stack and can be
recovered. The diagram
includes an "Alternative
Gas Recovery Section" for
the purpose of recovering
some of the gas to be flared
for use; this may not be
sufficient to contain all inlet
gas, or may not be present.
Fig. 2: Diagram of a flare stack. (Source:Wikimedia In this diagram, the inlet
Commons) gas to be flared continues to
a flashback seal drum,
which has two important mechanical characteristics. First, there is a threshold pressure
required for combustible inlet gasses to be able to pass from the knockout drum to the
flashback seal drum. Second, the influx of purge gas removes any lingering combustible
gasses. Both of these characteristics make it challenging for any flame to travel down the
flare stack and into the refinery, causing destruction. The flare stack has a flame for ignition
at the top, and in this case is designed to minimize flashback. Here, there exists steam
injection to improve the quality of combustion. [4,6]

Flares are implemented with concerns such as gas composition and pressure, safety,
environmental regulations, and social effects (noise and light pollution). Also considered are
the effects of thermal radiation, temperature, wind shear, and efficacy of combustion. [4,6]

Alternatives

Flaring represents a large loss of otherwise valuable products and energy capacity, as well as
contributions to global warming. [2,7] Attempts to minimize flaring and associated losses and
effects are ongoing. [1,7] Redesigning or modifying start-up and shutdown processes in
chemical plants is one example. [1] Some problems are infrastructure related, especially in
the case of flaring at the well itself. [8] Often, small quantities of natural gas are available in
the form of associated gas, or natural gas that is liberated in the process of extracting oil from
a reservoir, such that the natural gas released is not what drew companies to the well. A
report from the North Dakota Pipeline Authority notes that about 29% percent of natural gas
flaring in the Bakken Oil Field in March 2013 was due to wells that were not connected to
natural gas pipelines or processing facilities, or had insufficient connections. [9-11] A
significant opportunity exists to reduce flaring by improving the infrastructure and
connecting them to pipelines and plants that can process the natural gas, as opposed to
flaring. [7,8] The report identifies several problems with trying to collect this natural gas.
Insufficient compression can be one source of failure, where wells of different pressures are
connected to the same pipeline, causing flaring in the lower pressure well. Larger pipelines
may be needed, to handle the volume required, as well as buildup of liquids found with the
natural gas that can begin to pool and take up volume in the pipe. [10] These infrastructure-
related problems are significant.

Other solutions to circumvent problems of flaring from wells have been investigated, such as
re-injecting the gas into the well it was drawn from. This is particularly attractive in the
instance of dealing with high-sulfur streams, thus removing the cost of desulfurization. On-
site liquefaction or transformation to value-added chemicals have also been investigated and
Emam lists a number of modern attempts. [1,8] However, on-site chemical transformations
can be heavy in capital costs and are influenced by economics of scale; this is most likely to
work at sites with very large amounts of flaring. [9] On-site electricity generation from
flaring has also been examined, but is limited by on-site demand and grid access. [8]

Where and Why?

The seven countries that flared the most gas in 2017 were, in order, Russia, Iraq, Iran, the
United States, Algeria, Nigeria, and Venezuela.2 Countries with high rates of gas flaring
almost always share two characteristics:

1. Geology: Oil fields have significant quantities of associated gas where re-injection is

not a viable option.
 2. Markets: Local markets for natural gas are underdeveloped and/or pay low prices for
gas. (Even if a country has a robust gas market overall, flaring can occur if oil fields
are far from population centers and infrastructure to take associated gas isn’t
available.)

For example:

 In the United States, production of oil from the Bakken formation in North Dakota
has outpaced construction of natural gas processing plants and pipelines to handle
associated gas, leading to appreciable flaring.3
 In Russia and Iran, oil fields are mostly remote, and low, subsidized gas prices reduce
the incentive to bring associated gas to market.4,5
 In Iraq, Algeria, Nigeria, and Venezuela, gas markets and infrastructure are
underdeveloped, and there are limited financial incentives to exploit associated gas.

Flaring bans don’t work

In practice, bans on gas flaring have been ineffective. For example, flaring has been illegal in
Nigeria since 1984—and repeated deadlines for ending the practice have passed unmet ever
since.6 (The current deadline is 2020.7) The problem is the following: The domestic gas
market in Nigeria is underdeveloped, due largely to dysfunctional pricing and other
institutional issues in both electricity and natural gas markets. Oil sales supply a majority of
government revenue, and a high share of Nigeria’s oil fields have associated gas. The only
way to enforce a flaring ban would be to shut in these fields and cut off the income they
provide. Because the government needs that revenue, flaring will continue until there is a
viable outlet for the associated gas.

Flaring Solution 1: Develop deep, economically-viable gas

markets 
 Gas markets need an end-use application, the most obvious of which is power
generation. For example, Iraq plans to fuel a rehabilitated power grid with the
associated gas in the south that is now being flared.8 But the challenge of developing
economically-viable gas markets goes beyond building power plants and electricity
grids. Electricity market structures must allow power companies to recover from their
customers the costs of procuring market-priced gas and running gas-fired power
plants.9 Otherwise, the result may be gas-fired power plants that are chronically
offline because they can’t procure enough gas, as occurs, for example, in Nigeria.
 Instead of tackling power sector dysfunction head-on, it may be easier to build out
domestic gas use by focusing on large-scale industrial applications—for example,
manufacturing of petrochemicals, cement, or ceramics. In many of these applications,
market-priced gas may already be competitive against alternative feedstocks.
 Natural gas also offers environmental advantages against alternatives like coal.
Policies to mitigate the social costs of pollution thus tend to support gas market
development.
Flaring Solution 2: Develop smaller-scale uses of gas at/near the
source
 Build local gas-fired power plants to supply power for hydrocarbon operations, local
industrial uses, residential electrification, or injection into the grid. 
 Pipe gas to local industrial enterprises for heat and/or power generation.
 Build compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations for vehicles or other uses. For
example, GE’s “CNG in a Box” is one vision of a modular, mobile fueling station that
could in theory be deployed anywhere there is flaring.10

These small-scale applications may struggle to achieve the economies of scale that could
make them cost competitive, and often face issues of value chain coordination. In
Mozambique, for example, the Vilankulo Gas Pilot tapped an exploration well to provide
local residents with gas and gas-generated electricity. The project demonstrated the technical
feasibility, but it was reliant on subsidies and never served a large customer base.  

Flaring can occur in the oil and gas industry for many reasons,
ranging from initial start-up testing of a facility to unplanned
equipment malfunctions. Generally, flaring can be classified in the
following categories for the purpose of defining techniques for flare
reduction:

 Initial start-up flaring occurs during the commissioning and initial

start-up phases of a plant or process unit, when gas and liquids
are introduced into new facilities and equipment to test the
production of the products for sale (oil, gas, LPG, condensate,
etc.).
 Continuous production flaring occurs after initial start-up, when
the plant or process unit is in production. Continuous production
flaring is characterized by a routine, continuous gas stream
which is routed to a flare system because there is no economical
gas valorization route for a satellite field or for the routine
venting of flash gas in upstream production.
  Operational /non-continuous production flaring may occur on a
planned or unplanned basis for a number of
reasons.Planned non-continuous production flaring may occur,
for example, due to scheduled maintenance, equipment
shutdowns, well completions, workovers and liquids unloading,
etc. Unplanned non-continuous production flaring may be
caused, for example, by mechanical equipment failures,
instrument failures, and difficulty restarting well production.

The following table presents some common causes for each

category of flaring. The determination of the cause of a flaring event
is important to allow identification and evaluation of flare reduction
alternatives, e.g. modification projects to reduce continuous or
planned non-continuous production flaring, and clear procedures to
avoid future unplanned non-continuous flaring events.

Flaring categories
CATEGORY CAUSE DESCRIPTION

Initial start- - During the first weeks or months of the

up flaring plant life, some of the associated gas may
be flared before all the gas compressors are
commissioned, or for reservoir
management reasons.

Continuous Well with low Gas is flared because it is not economical

production gas-to-oil to recover the gas.
flaring ratio (GOR)
(mainly older
sites)
Gas Lack of local gas market, remoteness from
Utilization international markets, lack of gas gathering
Infeasible and compression infrastructure.

Gas release Gas and liquid are released continuously

to flare from the process to flare (e.g. glycol flash
drum, glycol gas stripping, compressor
seals, storage tanks etc.).

Planned Maintenance  Preventive maintenance

operational and (compressors, drivers etc.).
CATEGORY CAUSE DESCRIPTION

flaring inspection  Replacement of equipment.

 Regulatory inspections.

Modifications  Work on plant system:

and o Preparation of new plant
construction o Tie-ins
o Change of operating
conditions, power
distribution, etc.
 Work in the vicinity of an asset:
simultaneous operations

Reservoir  Reservoir monitoring (studies,

and well multi-flowrate trials etc.)
maintenance  Gas injector well servicing
(acidification, squeeze, wire line,
etc.)
 Flaring due to the offloading of
sensitive wells (no facility to
recover wellhead low pressure gas),
or due to sensitive wells opened to
flare in some cases of shutdown

Safety and  Plant and well testing

production  Operations testing
operations  Safety testing
 Leak testing

Drilling and  Well clean-up after drilling,

workovers workovers
 Well tests

Unplanned Production  Start-up after shutdown

operational dynamics  Off-spec gas issues
flaring  Flow assurance problems (slugs
etc.)
 Changes in HC composition, flow,
etc.
CATEGORY CAUSE DESCRIPTION

 Unavailability of receiving facilities

(impossible to export gas)

Mechanical Rotating and alternating equipment

failures in (pumps, compressors, turbines, etc.)
machines

Instrument  Safety, process and equipment

and valve protection instruments failures (fire
failures and gas detectors, vibrations
protectors, etc.)
 Process and safety control systems
failure
 Connection and wiring systems
failure
 Signal loss

Wells  Any type of failure in a gas-injector

well
 Difficulties in restarting a producer
well

Other  Failures due to erosion or corrosion,

internal and external
 Electrical failures: failure of power
generators, power distribution
networks, motors, heaters, or other
electrical equipment
 Human factors: any human action
resulting in involuntary flaring
(lack of preparation and procedures,
non-compliance with an existing
procedure, etc.)
 Miscellaneous: causes that have
been identified but do not fit into
any of the other categories
 Unexplained: any flared volume for
which the exact cause is difficult to
identify (except problems with
metering)
CATEGORY CAUSE DESCRIPTION

Safety flaring Flaring to purge flare lines with

hydrocarbon gas, for safety purposes.
Includes emergency shutdown with
depressurization.