Emissions from venting and flaring continue to drop in Saskatchewan

Innovations in Saskatchewan’s energy industry have helped reduce emissions from venting and flaring for the third consecutive year.

The provincial Ministry of Energy and Resources shared the figures on Tuesday, showing emissions from venting at upstream oil facilities dropped by 13 per cent in 2022, while emissions from flaring dropped by 10 per cent.

“Venting emissions involves directly releasing methane, a potent (greenhouse gas), to the atmosphere, while flaring means burning the gas, which generates carbon dioxide but greatly reduces the methane content,” the ministry explained in a statement.

“Declines in emissions are also due to the repurposing of produced gas to generate energy, which in some cases was used to power equipment that a company may use on site. More vented and flared gas was also collected in 2022, due to additional infrastructure projects coming online that expanded gas collection infrastructure in Saskatchewan.”

In 2022, Saskatchewan’s emissions from flaring and venting added up to the equivalent of 3.9 megatonnes of carbon dioxide. The previous year, that total was 4.4 megatonnes.

In 2015, those emissions added up to the equivalent of 8.5 megatonnes of CO2, meaning total emissions from venting and flaring have dropped by 64 per cent since that time, the ministry noted.

Jim Reiter, Saskatchewan’s energy and resources minister, noted that emission reduction measures aren’t always cheap, and applauded the companies that have made the extra effort.

“We have seen the industry make significant efforts over the last few years to install combustion equipment at oil wells and facilities where previously gas was vented,” Reiter said in a statement.

“This comes at considerable expense for some of the companies and we thank them for taking these steps to protect our environment.”

The full report can be found on the provincial government’s website.