Target: near zero flaring!

New practices, worldwide

As part of its strategy "More energy, fewer emissions", TotalEnergies’ commitment is to keep on reducing the greenhouse gases emitted by its industrial activities while continuing to find sustainable solutions to meet the needs of a growing world. As a founding member of the “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative led by the World Bank and a signatory of the "Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter" (OGDC), the Company is taking action to cut gas flaring on its sites, combining environmental performance and industrial safety. 

Gas flaring releases CO2 as well as small amounts of unflared gas (around 2% methane) – two potent greenhouse gases – into the atmosphere. Reducing these gases is a priority for TotalEnergies, who has pledged to an 80% decrease in its methane emissions by 2030 compared to 2020. This objective is in line with the commitments of the OGDC, comes within the scope of the Company’s role as partner in the OGMP 2.0 program initiated by the United Nations (UNEP) and is in keeping with current regulatory requirements.

 

What is flaring?

Flaring involves eliminating some of the excess gases associated with oil & natural gas production through controlled burning. The process is used in the case where the infrastructures are not designed to valorize these gases, either temporarily or in the long term.

"There are three types of flaring: routine, when gas is continuously burnt off because the installations are not equipped to valorize it, and non-routine and safety, both aimed at protecting personnel and the installations. Non-routine flaring is triggered during anomalous events affecting the process units (overpressure, malfunction, etc.). And safety flaring is used in emergency situations to prevent major accidents. It also helps to ensure the integrity of the flare system whatever the circumstances”, adds the leader of TotalEnergies’ Exploration & Production project "Near Zero Flaring Objective", part of whose team is divided between the CSTJF and the PERL.

In keeping with the commitment made to the World Bank, the Company has set itself the goal of completely eliminating routine flaring by 2030 on all its oil & gas installations. To underpin its efforts in terms of methane emission reduction, the Company has also adapted the flare system design to include technical solutions such as systems to recover and recirculate flare gases toward the process unit. These make it possible to:

  • Only send gas to the flare during major process unit malfunctions and safety events 
  • And reduce the visual and acoustic impacts of the flare.

Flare gas recovery systems are now installed as standard on all new production facilities and four sites in operation have already been equipped: Egina (Nigeria), Clov (Angola), Likouf (Congo) and Tempa Rossa (Italy). 

A plan to deploy this system on existing installations is also being rolled out.

In short

  • Flaring remains an essential tool for safety in the oil & gas industry.
  • Routine flaring is due to be totally done away with by 2030.
  • TotalEnergies is deploying systems to recover and recirculate flared gases to reduce both flaring and methane emissions.
  • The actions undertaken combine environmental performance, compliance with regulations and safety for personnel and the installations.

This new balance is the keystone of TotalEnergies’ climate and safety strategy and is fully in line with the expectations of stakeholders and the general public.