A gas flare is seen at dusk in this aerial photograph taken above a field near Mentone, Texas. Photographer: Bronte Wittpenn/Bloomberg
Investors managing more than $2 trillion are calling on Texas regulators to ban the routine burning of natural gas from shale fields, arguing that the energy industry hasn’t moved quickly enough to curb the controversial practice.
Bloomberg reported that AllianceBernstein, California State Teachers’ Retirement System and Legal & General Investment Management said they support eliminating gas flaring by 2025, according to a letter to the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees oil and gas in the state. All three investors have been vocal on environmental issues before, but it’s the first time large institutional investors have taken such a public stance to the Texas regulator.
“Actions of leading operators demonstrate the financial and technical viability of ending routine flaring,” the fund managers said in the letter, which was seen by Bloomberg. “It is clear, however, that voluntary actions alone have been insufficient to eliminate routine flaring industry-wide.”
Investors and environmentalists are increasingly drawing attention to flaring because of its wastefulness and contribution to climate change. Flaring is utilized around the world as a way to deal with gas that producers can’t — or don’t want to — transport or store. Much of what’s burned, especially in the shale fields of Texas, is so-called associated gas coming from oil wells.
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Source: Bloomberg
