Reuters
Operators drilling for oil in Texas are scrambling to dispose of excess natural gas amid a supply glut and weak prices, prompting a sharp rise in flaring requests. The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), which regulates the state's oil and natural gas industry, last week approved 21 exemption requests from operators, mostly in the Permian and Eagle Ford shale fields, to flare, more than four times the level it approved this time last year. Flaring, the burning of unwanted gas, has come under greater regulatory scrutiny in recent as environmental groups and climate activists seek to clamp down on the practice that releases greenhouse gases.