Iran Takes Over for Iraq as Worst Gas Flaring Country after Russia

Iran took over for Iraq as the world's second-worst gas flaring country after Russia in 2023 as both Iran and Russia showed increases on the year while Iraq was slightly lower, according to the World Bank's global gas flaring tracker for 2023.

After falling in 2022, global gas flare volume rose 7% in 2023 to 148 Bcm, the highest since 2019, according to the June 20 report on the World Bank website. Among other top flaring Middle East and North Africa countries, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Qatar flared more gas in 2023 compared with 2022 while Algeria, Egypt and Oman flared less gas. It was the fourth drop in a row in Oman's gas flaring, the report showed. The UAE and Syria were little changed on the year. The top nine largest gas flarers in the world, including Algeria and Libya, accounted for 75% of all gas flaring and 46% of oil production, it said.

Iran's gas flaring increased 19% on the year to 20.4 Bcm in 2023 while oil production increased, resulting in an 8% jump in flaring intensity to the highest level since satellite-based estimates of flaring began in 2012, according to the report. Libya also showed an 8% increase in flaring intensity.

"The increased flaring intensity suggests that there has been a lack of corresponding investment in gas infrastructure and utilization," the World Bank said in the report.

Only Saudi Arabia came ahead of Libya in terms of a larger percent increase in gas flaring for the region, posting a 31% increase for 2023. By volume, Saudi flared 2.5 Bcm while crude production was slightly lower as the country complied with OPEC+ cuts.

The UAE's flaring volume is the lowest in the region among the top 30 global gas flarers despite it being one of OPEC's largest crude producers, according to the report.

Oman has also worked to cut the amount of gas it flares. In 2021, Petroleum Development Oman reported a 22% drop in flared gas on the year. Last year, it dropped 9.5% reduction, according to the World Bank report.

Iraq increased its oil production but flaring dropped 1% last year. The country has emphasized reducing its gas flaring over the past few months, signing multiple deals with US companies to cut down on flaring. Seven deals signed with US firms in April deal with associated gas and gas burning, which is a major issue in Iraq that leads to lost power generation and leaves the country dependent on electricity imports from Iran. - S&P Global