WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — Norwegian oil company Statoil is planning to widen a technologically advanced natural gas capture program in North Dakota’s oil fields that it says will reduce natural gas flaring.
Statoil, General Electric and Ferus Natural Gas Fuels on Wednesday announced that a natural gas capture pilot project will expand and power up to six of Statoil’s drilling rigs in the state.
The program allows Statoil to capture natural gas that would be flared and use it as a power source for oil exploration and production machinery.
Natural gas is a valuable byproduct of oil production. But without infrastructure in place to capture it, it is burned off. North Dakota currently flares around 30 percent of the natural gas it produces. The national flaring rate is around 1 percent.
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