Iran was the third country with the highest volume of gas flaring in the world last year, accounting for 9.3% of the total global flaring.
Although the annual flaring in Iran dropped to 13.3 billion cubic meters in 2020 from 17.7 bcm in 2017, the country is still among the top three gas-flaring countries, ILNA reported.
In 2020, oil production decreased by 8% compared to the previous year, from 82 million barrels per day in 2019 to 76 million barrels a day.
The decline in oil output led to the reduction in global gas flaring as it decreased by 5%, from 150 billion cubic meters in 2019 to 142 bcm in 2020.
Russia, Iraq, Iran, the US, Algeria, Venezuela and Nigeria are the top countries with the highest volume of gas flaring. These seven countries produce 40% of the world's oil annually, but make up about two-thirds (65%) of the flares.
Flaring is the burning of natural gas that cannot be processed or sold. It is known as associated petroleum gases (APG) and is an important safety measure in most oil and gas production sites, as it prevents industrial plant equipment from over-pressuring and exploding.
However, burning high levels of APG is a major source of pollution because large amounts of harmful emissions are released in the environment. Flaring carries methane, ethane and propane into the atmosphere, contributing to air pollution.
According to World Bank, flaring injects roughly 400 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions into the atmosphere every year.
Russia was responsible for more flaring overall than any other country in 2020, contributing 15% of the global total.
Iran has made progress in using flare gas either for power generation or as feed for refineries and petrochemical factories. The government is said to have invested more than $5 billion in related projects.
