Russia burning gas into atmosphere as it scales back Europe supply

Flaring is a common practice in oil and gas production, but the current level is unusually high and the timing is sensitive because of the Russian supply cuts.

Russia is wasting large volumes of natural gas by burning it in a huge orange flare near the Finnish border at a time when it has sharply cut deliveries to the European Union, scientists and analysts said on Friday.

Analysts from Rystad, an energy consultancy based in Norway, described it as an environmental disaster and estimated the amount of gas being burned off into the atmosphere was equivalent to about 0.5% of daily EU needs.

The spectacular flare can be seen in satellite images of Portovaya, site of a compressor station for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany.

Russia has cut flows through Nord Stream 1 to just 20 per cent of capacity and plans to shut it down entirely for three days next week, citing maintenance issues with turbines. The EU accuses it of using gas as a weapon to fight back against Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Flaring is a common practice in oil and gas production, but the current level is unusually high and the timing is sensitive because of the Russian supply cuts.

Russian energy giant Gazprom did not reply to a request for comment.

Rystad analysts wrote: “Exact flaring volumes levels are hard to quantify but are believed to be at levels of around 4.34 million cubic metres per day. This equates to 1.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) on an annualized basis and is equal to around 0.5 per cent of the EU’s gas demand needs.”

The flaring was first reported in Finland, which borders Russia, earlier this month.