Figures from June’s oil and gas report do not have good news on the natural gas flaring front.
"It did not go down," said State Mineral Resources director Lynn Helms. He says the percentage of gas being flared stayed at 28 percent in June. Helms says the main reason is that the Tioga natural gas plant was only operating at 57 percent of capacity. He says that’s because of a delay in a pipeline project that would go from Keene, south of Lake Sakakawea, to that gas plant.
"It's actually an old pipeline right-of-way," said Helms. "But because of federal permitting rules, they (Hess) had to apply for a permit to do an archeology survey to apply for a permit to do a little bit of mechanical work right on the lake shore. They got the permit to do the work, and they've done the work, so now they're waiting on the permit to do the real work."
Helms says that highlights the challenges the state faces in trying to reduce natural gas flaring.
