The Problem of Associated Gas

The flaring of associated petroleum gas (APG) is one of the most pressing environmental problems of the Russian oil and gas sector as the volume of APG flaring in our country is one of the largest in the world.

APG flaring damages the environment, it contributes to the greenhouse effect, causing harm to public health as well as to the country’s economy since the valuable chemical raw materials and energy resources are simply thrown to the wind.

One of the significant reasons for the large-scale APG flaring is the lack of public control. In this regard, in the spring of 2009 the World Wildlife Fund for Nature launched a public campaign to help solve the issue. WWF Russia publishes the annual review «The Problems and Prospects for the Use of Associated Petroleum Gas in Russia» reflecting the basic current data about the APG production and use in Russia, and providing recommendations to speed up the solution of this problem. The latest version of the review you can download on this page on the right.

Due to public attention to the APG problem over the last years a number of governmental decisions have been adopted in Russia. They aim to increase the efficiency of natural resources use through the active introduction of the best available technologies and bringing the level of APG use to the world average of 95% (RF Government Decree of 08.11. 2012 N 1148, ed. of 17.12.2016). Unfortunately, since 2014–2015 the rate of rational APG use in the country has decreased.

WWF Russia will continue shaping public opinion to support the set of measures addressing the problem of APG. One of the most important and effective tools improving the situation regarding APG processing is the environmental responsibility rating of oil and gas companies, assessing the companies` level of environmental impact and the quality of their disclosure policies. One of the rating criteria is the level of beneficial APG use.

In recent years the interest to this issue has been increasing worldwide. In April 2015, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced the launch of a joint initiative, «Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative», that aims to stop unproductive APG flaring.