Following the February 2021 winter storm, the Texas Methane & Flaring Coalition issued the following statement:
“Operators across Texas have been working extensively throughout this crisis to safely restart production of essential natural gas that was taken offline due to power losses, hazardous transportation conditions and weather- related equipment issues. During this tedious and manpower-intensive process, wells that are being brought online may have to flare for limited periods of time for safety reasons that are ultimately necessary to produce life-saving natural gas to heat homes and provide fuel for electrical generation. Some natural gas in lines and production equipment during restarts may not be usable or sellable because of oxygen levels in the natural gas, which can render it highly volatile. Entering this natural gas into the system could cause catastrophic disruptions at processing facilities and midstream systems and would hinder vital gas processing. The safety flaring that is occurring is to remove impurities from the natural gas to then get usable natural gas entered into the pipeline system to meet the needs of Texans. This is not ‘routine flaring’ and the Texas Methane & Flaring Coalition members remain committed to the goal of ending routine flaring.”
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