The Problem of Associated Gas In the course of producing Oil & Gas, companies make provision to flare gas

as part of the process safety considerations put in place to cater for excess gas. This could be excess gas resulting from over-pressurizing the process vessels (excess gas released to flare headers via the operation of relief valves) or as a way to handle excess gas from process upset or facility start up operations. This gas is directed to the flare stack where it is burned or flared. Usually, some liquids from the process accompany the excess gas out making it wet and resulting in thick sooty flares. In the predominantly Oil fields of the Niger Delta region of Africa, most organizations have adopted the approach of installing gas compressor facilities to handle associated gas as a primary way of handling gas produced from crude oil gathering stations. In this case crude oil is stabilized and exported while the associated gas is channeled to the compressor station from where processed gas is supplied to customers via a gas pipeline network. However, many crude oil gathering facilities built up to two decades ago and earlier, when gas flaring was not much of an issue and very little was known or shared about the phenomenon called global warming, still have flaring as their only option for handling associated gas. The economics of installing compressor stations would not support providing a compressor station close to every Flowstation. Therefore organizations have chosen to provide these gas processing facilities where considerations like reservoir conditions, gas lift possibilities, market availability and regional topography, among others, favour such facilities. These considerations leave out a number of facilities that were built just for the oil, because most organizations did not did not have gas portfolios in their business plans when they started business in the region. All these crude oil facilities without associated gas (AG) solution, account for Nigerias undesirable position as the second highest contributor to the total volume flared in the world. In 2007, Nigeria was reported to have flared over 23billion cubic meters of gas a, most of it from the Niger Delta region, which represents only 7.5% of Nigerias land mass. In addition to the lamentable scenario created by this colossal loss of national resources, the environmental impact of flaring gas in such tonnage yearly since 1960 till date, demands an unyielding search for a viable, beneficial and environmentally friendly solution.
Reference: a. http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/06/21/russia_top_offender_in_gas_flare_emissions/