Natural Gas Flaring Bill | Video

Jennifer Joas | 1/25/2013

Some North Dakotans aren`t so happy to see the great balls of fire light up the night sky in oil country. Under the current law, companies are allowed to flare the natural gas for the first year of production. But the Industrial Commission is allowed to grant extensions on a case by case basis.

Fargo Senator Tim Mathern (D) introduced a bill that would do away with the exemptions after the first year. He says even for wells on remote sites, there are several new technologies that can capture or process the gas on site, without needing a pipeline.

He says this bill is more likely to pass than outright banning flaring altogether. "This bill though is meeting the industry halfway and it`s saying let`s just eliminate the exceptions after a year. And I think that has a greater chance of passing."

The Department of Mineral Resources has 37 cases pending for extensions past one year.

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