Azerbaijan’s opportunities and challenges in flaring and methane emissions

Natural Gas World just published our latest thought piece, co-authored with colleagues Andrei Belyi and Aziza Khalilova. Click to read the article.

January saw first gas from the new Southern Gas Corridor pipeline from linking Caspian gas to the Italian gas hub. A great diversification play for the EU, but also excellent that Azerbaijan’s industry is world-class on flaring (due to excellent work by SOCAR, bp and others. However, equally key to ensure that life-cycle methane emissions from venting and leaking are low. 

As the EU continues to develop its methane strategy – and formulate a clear flaring strategy too – the issue of embedded emissions associated with imports will continue to be in focus. Producers that cannot prove their end-to-end emissions are low may lose out as the EU considers imposing carbon border adjustment prices, potentially as early as 2023. See our related article “12 things the EU should do about gas flaring“.

Good news is that there are many flare capture technologies, and groups like Capterio can deliver real-world gas flaring solutions.