Why is wasted gas from oil exploration sites flared up into the sky as opposed to being used for some other process that needs energy?

Question

Seems wasteful? But I know nothing about the process and am curious.

In: Engineering

Answer 1

It is wasteful to flare gas. Pipelines are expensive and may take years to build. It’s much easier to build a tank to hold liquid oil. 

Nat gas conditioning plants can be built that would remove CO2, remove sulfur, and condense higher hydrocarbons (propane, butanes, etc). 

But these all take more time and usually aren’t done in advance of drilling a well.