Methane emissions from inefficient and unlit flares have been shown to be a persistent problem in the United States (Environmental Defense Fund, 2021; Plant et al., 2022); in Canada, however, these issues are not as well understood. While a recent study in British Columbia found unlit flares to be amongst its most significant emission sources (Tyner and Johnson, 2021), a study in Alberta found very few unlit flares (Seymour et al., 2022). Although inefficient flaring is difficult to measure and prevent, unlit flares represent an easily achieved reduction in methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

We will use helicopter-based optical gas imaging (OGI) camera surveys of flares across British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to estimate the unlit flare fraction in Western Canada. The project will aim to survey 400+ sites across the three provinces and revisit any unlit flares to assess their persistence. This survey will produce an estimate of unlit flare fraction across different jurisdictions, production region, and facility/well type. The research team will notify all operators of unlit flares to spur immediate remedial action and to gather information about root causes for future prevention of unlit flares. Finally, the observed flaring activity will be compared to reported activity and identify any discrepancies. This comparison will be used to quantify reporting completeness.