Oil Patch in North Dakota burning off $100 million per month in natural gas.

[Coyotl]

Meanwhile, on nearby Indian Reservation, people die by freezing to death when their expensive propane runs out.

Bakken Shale Flaring Burns Nearly One-Third Of Natural Gas Drilled, New Study Finds
07/29/2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/bakken-shale-flaring_n_3669649.html

NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Oil drillers in North Dakota's Bakken shale fields are allowing nearly a third of the natural gas they drill to burn off into the air, with a value of more than $100 million per month, according to a study to be released on Monday.

Remote well locations, combined with historically low natural gas prices and the extensive time needed to develop pipeline networks, have fueled the controversial practice, commonly known as flaring. While oil can be stored in tanks indefinitely after drilling, natural gas must be immediately piped to a processing facility.

Flaring has tripled in the past three years, according to the report from Ceres, a nonprofit group that tracks environmental records of public companies.

"There's a lot of shareholder value going up in flames due to flaring," ..............

[oldhippie]

1. There you go - sounds like an opportunity

Why don't you form a company and buy that worthless gas from the drillers and send it to the freezing Indians at a reasonable price? Sounds like a win-win for everyone. Lets get some investors and do it! I'm in for a few bucks!

[Coyotl]

4. Yeah, right, worthless gas. It is not worthless. It is very valuable, $1.2 billion a year.

$1.2 billion a year up into the air as pollution and toxins just so the profits will be quicker.

[Travis_0004]

2. Your own article explains why it happens.

I guarantee you that gas companies don't want to burn off money (if they wanted to reduce supply to raise prices, they would drill less wells, not burn off gas). Furthermore they are reducing the percent of gas they flare.

As your own article states, there is no way to store or transport the excess gas, which is why its burned off, so what is your solution to deliver that gas to Indian reservations?

[Coyotl]

3. Yeah, that's why I posted it!

The whole problem is they want quick profits, and don't build the infrastructure. They would rather ruin the atmosphere to make a quick buck. What is needed is a law prohibiting burning fossil fuels at well heads and requiring capture of the resource. But that would slow the profit stream of all-powerful Big Oil.