Sustainability Reporting and Accounting in Measuring the Costs of Flared Dry Gas Industry

Abstract

The sector oil and gas are very importance in the Iraqi economy, and natural gas cause less pollution to the environment. Due to the conditions that the country went through, the existing infrastructure is unable to process the quantities of natural gas associated with the extraction of crude oil, therefore it is treated by burning. This has harmful effects on the environment and society. In addition, the expenditure on treating is very large and the country suffer a large loss of revenue in the atmosphere. Therefore, the responsible authorities should decide to limit these burning processes through the information on economy, environment and society that sustainability accounting provides. Also, the company being studied shows that there are a lot of costs incurred by burning dry gas for two reasons: compressors stop working and network pressure. This is a waste of the natural resource and of large sums that could have been revenues for the country. Although there are also disadvantages on the environment and society, the company’s expenditure on the environment and society is small compared to the costs spent on producing dry gas. This does not support sustainable development, and the study concludes with some conclusions and recommendations.