Measuring Gas Flaring in Russia with Multispectral VIIRS Nightfire

Abstract

According to the data reported by the international and governmental agencies, the Russian Federation remains one of the world’s major associated petroleum gas (APG) flaring nations. In the past decade, numerous studies have shown the applicability of satellite-based methods to estimate gas flaring. New satellite-based observations might offer an insight in region-, company-, and site-specific gas flaring patterns, as the reported data are often incomplete. We provide a detailed catalog of the upstream and downstream gas flares and an in-depth analysis at the country, region, company and site level of the satellite monitoring results of flaring in Russia from 2012 to 2020. Our analysis is based on the VIIRS Nightfire data and validated against high-resolution daytime satellite images and geographical and geological metadata published by the oil and gas companies and the Russian government. Gas flaring volumes in Russia are estimated to average at 23 billion cubic meters (BCM) annually (15% of global flaring), with 19 BCM (82% on national scale) corresponding to the oil upstream flaring, which has been subject to heavy government regulations since 2013. Despite initially dropping, observed flaring volumes have been on the climb since 2018. We are able to monitor seasonal variations, accidents in gas processing and to track the activities to reduce gas flaring. An effect of gas composition on the flare temperature is reported for oil and gas fields in Russia.