Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Flare and off-gas recovery: Impact and additionality

Among the cheapest abatement anywhere, with an oil catch

What this tab covers The impact and additionality lens: direct emission cuts, side benefits for water and air, and the risk of prolonging the life of a polluting host plant.

Per dollar, this is among the cheapest abatement anywhere, because methane is potent and the gas has value. The impact question is whether it props up oil output.

Direct Scope 1 and Scope 2 abatement

Favourable

Each cubic metre flared emits about 2.6 kg CO2e on the World Bank's 2025 figures (calculated, 429 Mt over 167 bcm). Recovering gas that would otherwise be vented avoids far more, because unburnt methane traps much more heat than CO2. One refinery recovery unit was estimated to avoid 6,600 t CO2e a year and recover 2,900 toe (tonnes of oil equivalent). Fossil fuels emit about 124 Mt of methane a year (oil 45, coal 43, gas 36). For coal mines, IEA (via Ember) finds 54% of 2024 emissions abatable by 2030 for about USD 14.25 billion a year, with a further 12% at no net cost. About USD 2.5 billion of ventilation-air oxidation could cut 9.5 Mt, or 23.7%.25710

CO2e per m3 flared about 2.6 kg (calculated)5 Refinery FGR abatement (case) 6,600 t CO2e/y, 2,900 toe/y7 Fossil methane about 124 Mt/y (oil 45, coal 43, gas 36)2 CMM abatable by 2030 54% (plus a further 12% at no net cost); IEA 2025 via Ember10

Water and air synergy

Favourable

Flares emit black carbon, unburnt hydrocarbons and, with sour gas, sulphur dioxide, which harm nearby communities. Replacing routine flaring with recovery removes these local pollutants, and sour-gas treatment removes hydrogen sulphide before use. The sources here do not quantify the local air-quality benefit.18

Avoided lock-in

Mixed

Turning flared gas into revenue improves oil field economics and, in places, can extend production. The counter-argument is strong: the gas is produced anyway, and flaring intensity (gas flared per barrel) rose about 2.7% in 2025, from 5.3 to 5.4 m3 per barrel. In the 2025 edition, countries that endorsed Zero Routine Flaring had cut intensity by an average of 12% since 2012, while non-endorsers saw a 25% rise. Recovery that replaces diesel or coal power nearby is clearly additional. Recovery used to justify new oil developments is not.16

Flaring intensity change about +2.7% (5.3 to 5.4 m3/bbl, 2025)5 Intensity since 2012, ZRF endorsers vs others -12% vs +25%1

Sources

  1. Global gas flaring hits highest level since 2007 (Global Gas Flaring Tracker 2025, covering 2024) World Bank, 2025
  2. Global Methane Tracker 2026: Key findings International Energy Agency, 2026
  3. Global Gas Flaring Tracker 2026 (full report, covering 2025; copy hosted by DevelopmentAid) World Bank, Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership, 2026
  4. Global gas flaring rises, undermining energy security (press release, 23 June 2026) World Bank, 2026
  5. Energy efficiency improvement in oil refineries through flare gas recovery technique to meet the emission trading targets (Comodi, Renzi and Rossi), Energy 109 Elsevier (abstract via RePEc/IDEAS), 2016
  6. Thermo-economical evaluation of producing liquefied natural gas and natural gas liquids from flare gases (Barekat-Rezaei et al.), Energies 11(7) 1868 MDPI (peer-reviewed), 2018
  7. Global Coal Mine Methane Review 2026: cutting CMM this decade is urgent and feasible (reporting IEA Global Methane Tracker 2025, UNEP and UNECE figures) Ember, 2026