Shale CEO calls out industry for Permian Basin gas flaring

(Reuters) – Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:) Chief Executive Scott Sheffield on Tuesday called on producers in the top U.S. shale field to limit flaring and monitor for methane leaks.

Companies are targeting oil in the fast-growing field, but pipeline construction has lagged, leaving natural gas as a byproduct to be burned or vented.

Producers should get flaring and venting rates to 2% or less and not drill wells before pipelines are complete, Sheffield said during a call with analysts.

“We do not connect any new horizontal wells to production unless the gas line is already in place,” Sheffield said. “I think that’s something that should be adopted by all producers in the Permian Basin.”

Pioneer’s flaring rate is around 1%, the second-lowest in the basin behind Chevron Corp (NYSE:), according to an investor presentation with Rystad Energy data. The average for its peer group was a 5% flaring rate.

Gas flaring and venting in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico reached a new high of 750 million cubic feet per day in the third quarter, according to estimates released on Tuesday by Rystad Energy.

During the previous nine months, flaring and venting averaged 600 million to 650 million cubic feet per day, Rystad said.

The upswing is being driven by more drilling and fracking, pipeline bottlenecks and new production in areas that lack gathering lines and processing plants.

The Texas portion of the Permian’s Delaware Basin accounted for 40% of the field’s flaring and venting, Rystad said.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.