Zero Flare conception

By: Ishag Haroon Mohamad

TA at University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

ZERO FLARE
Z.F aims to reduce the loss of NG as much as Possible by utilizing it for useful
purposes.
In Associated Gas fields, oil and gas are produced at the same time. Oil is sold to
markets, but gas when infrastructure or local gas markets do not exist or when
GAS is not included in the agreement between the processor and the producer is
released to atmosphere, it is either vented (not ignited) or flared (ignited), and the
last one is dominated because of that the global warming potential of methane is 21
times that of CO2, so each methane molecule would be 21 times better burnt than
vented.

The world flared gas is in increasing. By World Bank estimates, 6 Tcf per year is
being flared - and has not abated over the past 20 years - which is:

Equivalent to 25% of US consumption, 30% of European consumption

Equivalent to 6% of worlds production, worth $40 B per year

 Middle East alone flares 1 Tcf/y (2.9 Bcf/d), which is equivalent to 20MTA
LNG plant.
Nigeria could earn $500 MM per year if they could sell the gas that is
current being flared.
Gas flaring not only harms the environment by contributing to global warming
but is a huge waste of a cleaner source of energy that could be used to generate
much needed electricity in poor countries around the world. In Africa alone about
40 Bcm of gas are burned every year, which if put to use could generate half of the
electricity needed in that continent.

Top flaringcountries are: Rusia, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq, Angola, Venezuela, Qatar,
Algeria, the United States, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Equatorial Guinea, Libya,
Mexico, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Congo, the United Kingdom, and Gabon.
These burned money attract the attention of World Bank through World Bank
GGFR Initiative. The Global Gas Flaring Reduction public-private partnership
(GGFR) was launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
August 2002 with representatives of governments of oil-producing countries, stateowned companies, major international oil companies, and donor countries to
overcome the worldwide barriers of reducing associated gas flaring by sharing
global best practices and implementing country specific programs.
The GGFR partnership, a World Bank-led initiative, facilitates and supports
national efforts to use currently flared associated gas by promoting effective
regulatory frameworks and tackling the constraints on gas utilization, such as
insufficient infrastructure and access to local and international energy markets,
particularly in developing countries.

Poverty reduction is part of the GGFR program, which includes developing

methods so that the otherwise flared and wasted natural gas and liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) can be used for the benefit of the people. The program has
evaluated opportunities for small-scale gas utilization in several countries.
With the on going gas technologies update, full capacity of NG can be utilised as
shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Natural Gas utilization

The challenges of gas treating are solved. New technologies can treat any amount
of gas with large ranges of contaminates - N2, CO2, H2O, HC, H2S, and O2 - to
acceptable levels. It is less losses and excellent quality than the conventional
methods. Gas with 37 % and 18 % of CO2 and N2 respectively can be treated to
lower levels of 2% and 6% respectively. Also higher flow rates can be handled
(750 MMSCF/d).
CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS
1. FEE-BASED CONTRACTS
In fee based contracts, the producer pays the gas processor a set fee on the basis
of gas volumes produced.
2. PERCENTAGE OF PROCEEDS CONTRACTS
In percentage of proceeds (POP) contracts, the two parties agree to what
percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the gas and liquids is to be retained by
the producer.
3. WELLHEAD PURCHASE CONTRACTS
In wellhead purchase contracts, the processor executes a contract to purchase total
Btus from the producer at a negotiated price
4. FIXED EFFICIENCY CONTRACTS
In fixed efficiency contracts, the processor agrees to provide a certain percentage
recovery (efficiency) of the heavier than methane components from the gas and to
pay the producer on the basis of the market value of the theoretical liquid
production and resultant residue gas.
5. KEEP WHOLE CONTRACTS

In keep whole contracts, the processor agrees to process or condition the

producers gas for sale in the natural gas market and to return to the producer
100% of the Btu content of the raw gas (keep the producer whole on Btus) in
exchange for retaining ownership of all liquids extracted from the gas. The
processor usually retains all liability for fuel, processing costs, and the purchase of
replacement of Btus extracted as a liquid product.

References
1 LNG IMPORT TERMINALS RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, M. W. Kellogg
Ltd and KBR.
2 World Bank Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership, 2007
3 Quote from Bent Svensson, manager of the World Banks Global Gas Flaring
partnership, 2007.