-Expert says gas better used for electricity, injection into wells

By Navendra Seoraj
RELEASING greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is in no way good for the environment, and, while unavoidable in some cases, particularly during the initial phases of oil production, it can be regulated or channeled to productive systems in the long run, resulting in zero routine flaring.

Flaring in Guyana’s context was being done by ExxonMobil at its Liza Phase One development offshore Guyana in the Stabroek Block.
Reports are that ExxonMobil flared over two billion cubic feet of natural gas due to challenges during production start-up, but these challenges have since been alleviated with the commencement of the re-injection of gas.

Back in 2019, ExxonMobil had explained to the media that for the first period after ‘first oil’ there would be initial start-up flaring – authorised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – which occurs during the commissioning and initial start-up phases of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) when gas and liquids are introduced into new facilities and equipment.

This flaring, it said, would not continue as routine and will only take place again in the case of an emergency whereby flaring will be used to immediately de-pressure the facility as part of a shut-down process to reduce risk.

ExxonMobil Guyana has made 18 discoveries since May 2015 and began production in December 2019 from the Liza Phase One development project.
With the company’s Liza Phase Two development and the Payara project set to come on stream within the next two years, gas flaring will again be something to pay attention to. And, while the Government of Guyana has already prohibited routine gas flaring at the Payara development project, Executive Director of the Payne Institute for Earth Resources and Research, Professor of Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, Dr. Morgan Bazilian, said general regulatory and technical measures must be implemented to mitigate gas flaring in future projects.

“Yes, flaring itself has environmental impacts and is a waste of resources…economically and environmentally bad,” said Dr. Bazilian during a virtual session with local reporters on Friday.
He added: “there are technical ways to reduce flaring…but there must be a combination of technical measures which will come in quickly and regulatory measures.”
Most countries take a “long time” to develop a regulatory framework for gas flaring, but from the expert’s understanding, the projects in Guyana are engineered to have zero routine flaring.

Dr. Bazilian pointed to the “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative, introduced by the World Bank, which brings together governments, oil companies, and development institutions which recognise the detriments of flaring.

According to the World Bank, this initiative pertains to ‘routine flaring’ and not to ‘flaring’ for safety reasons or non-routine flaring, which nevertheless should be minimised.
“Routine flaring of gas is flaring during normal oil production operations in the absence of sufficient facilities or amenable geology to re-inject the produced gas, utilise it on-site, or dispatch it to a market. Venting is not an acceptable substitute for flaring,” said the World Bank.

According to the World Bank, during oil production, associated gas is produced from the reservoir together with the oil; much of this gas is utilised or conserved because governments and oil companies have made substantial investments to capture it, but some of it is flared because of technical, regulatory, or economic constraints.
Dr. Bazilian said gas flaring is controlled through power plants or reinjection into wells, and in Guyana’s case, while ExxonMobil has started reinjection, there are already talks, locally, to establish a gas-to-energy system.

“We have to make these decisions, but they will be made dependent on the resources available and what the market offers,” said Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, in a previous report.
Although many things are still undecided, the Vice-President said Government is certain that it does not want gas flaring to continue. As reported, the priority, as outlined in the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between Guyana and ExxonMobil is oil recovery, but the new administration will be looking to capitalise on the associated gas deposits, so that Guyanese could benefit from cheap electricity, among other things.

The Vice-President said Government plans to move ‘swiftly’ with the gas-to-energy project, as its intention is to deliver the promise of cheap electricity, which was made to Guyanese.
Projects like this are especially important because flaring of gas contributes to climate change and impacts the environment through emission of carbon dioxide, black carbon and other pollutants.

According to the World Bank, it also wastes a valuable energy resource that could be used to advance the sustainable development of producing countries.
“For example, if this amount of gas were used for power generation, it could provide about 750 billion kWh of electricity, or more than the African continent’s current annual electricity consumption,” said the World Bank.

Regardless of the measures employed, Dr. Bazilian said Governments across the world should always work towards zero routine flaring.