AMSTERDAM: Ten multinational oil companies, nine countries, and six global development institutions sealed a commitment to end routine gas flaring at oil production sites by 2030.
The Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative was launched by United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, as part of the World Bank Spring meeting in Washington.
The initiative, which represents more than 40 per cent of global gas flaring activities by oil companies, Mr. Ki-moon said, has already been endorsed by nine countries, 10 oil companies and six development institutions.
Some of the signatories to the agreement included Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Statoil, Eni, BG Group, Kuwait Oil Company, Petroamazonas of Ecuador, State Oil Compnay of Azerbaijan, Societe Nationale des Petroles du Congo, and Societe Nationale des Hydrocarbones of Cameroun.
The governments involved included Norway, Cameroun, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Gabon, Uzbekistan, Congo, Angola and France.
The World Bank led the development institutions, which also included United Nations, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.
The UN Secretary General noted that about 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas produced in association with oil was being “flared” at thousands of oil fields around the world.
