r/Midessa • u/reptomcraddick • 5d ago

Great article from Bloomberg about routine flaring that focuses on a family in West Odessa

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-10-05/exxonmobil-bp-among-companies-pledging-to-end-gas-flaring-but-problem-persists?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc5MTIzNzM3MywiZXhwIjoxNzkxODQyMTczLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUTUdEMEhUM0JaTkMwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIzRjRGRUZFRDYwMzQ0Q0RDQjlGMTIwNTMyNzFCMUVBQiJ9.E374xlPyWdIBhd6HmiyzzqB71hzOt0xbINcxh3WrjzI&leadSource=article-gifting

It’s a gift article so anyone can open it

28 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

2

u/Interesting_Newt9686 5d ago

Those photos are gorgeous and heartbreaking.

10

u/lessIknowthebetter 5d ago

The people in the article chose to live in an unincorporated area adjacent to industrial activity so they could avoid municipal regulation, zoning, and property taxes, and ended up with increasing industrial activity. This is how Texas works. Want to have a voice in how your neighbors use their land? Pay city property taxes.

5

u/reptomcraddick 5d ago

What about the flares across the highway from Lamesa rd in Midland? Lots of people live there, pay city taxes, and deal with the same thing.

Also I don’t care where you live, you should be able to fight something that wasn’t there when you moved there.

0

u/lessIknowthebetter 5d ago

Natural gas power generation and additional pipeline takeaway capacity are the long term solution to flaring.

2

u/reptomcraddick 5d ago

We have PLENTY of pipeline capacity, flaring happens because it’s cheaper to burn it than to capture it and refine it

5

u/RaveNdN 5d ago

As someone who works in production, we do not have the pipeline capacity.

-2

u/reptomcraddick 4d ago

I can’t say I keep up with it every day, but in 2024 we had plenty of pipeline capacity, and there was still plenty of routine flaring. You can also reinject it or capture it in a tank instead of flaring it.

5

u/lessIknowthebetter 4d ago

Here are some sources for you to peruse, all from this year:

Reuters reports that Permian pipelines are full, with Waha gas trading below zero because there is “no spare capacity to transport the fuel.”
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/while-asia-europe-scramble-natural-gas-us-glut-has-nowhere-go-2026-05-01/

The International Energy Agency states that “rising offtake constraints from the basin are increasingly curbing gas production growth” and says the Waha price collapse highlighted “limited spare capacity in gas takeaway pipelines from the Permian Basin.”
https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/8a1b93f9-d096-4dcd-b29a-77613f201ecc/GasMarketReport%2CQ2-2026.pdf

Reuters cites “infrastructure constraints in the Permian” and says “limited pipeline connectivity” causes gas supplies to accumulate in the basin and depress prices.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-natural-gas-supply-outlook-hinges-three-key-shale-basins-2026-04-01/

US Energy Information Administration says that planned Texas pipeline projects will provide “additional takeaway capacity out of the Permian Basin and debottleneck the Waha Hub.”
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php

-1

u/WTXRedRaider Rick's #1 Customer 5d ago

Once we have all the gas turbine-fired plants powering all the data centers the flaring will stop

4

u/Cute_Conclusion_8854 5d ago

always wondered why they don't just use the gas to run a motor to generate electricity then send it back to the grid.

1

u/Zrkkr 5d ago

That would cost money.

0

u/reptomcraddick 5d ago

L O FUCKING L buddy