The World Bank says Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria, Venezuela and Nigeria remain the top seven gas flaring countries for nine years running.
The bank said this on Wednesday in Washington D. C. in its gas flaring satellite data for 2020, compiled by World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR).
It added that the satellite was first launched in 2012.
It said that the seven countries produced 40 per cent of the world’s oil each year, but accounted for roughly two-thirds (65 per cent) of global gas flaring.
“This trend is indicative of ongoing, though differing challenges facing these countries.
“For example, the U.S. has thousands of individual flare sites, difficult to connect to a market.
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“However, a few high flaring oil fields in East Siberia in the Russian Federation are extremely remote, lacking the infrastructure to capture and transport the associated gas.”
The report said that 2020 was an unprecedented year for the oil and gas industry, with oil production declining by eight per cent, while global gas flaring reduced by five per cent.