What a waste! Picture from space reveals how new U.S. oil field is burning off enough gas to power Chicago AND Washington - because it's cheaper than selling it
This incredible picture from space shows how the U.S. oil industry has boomed to such an extent that a gas field now burns as brightly as a major city.
The rapid increase in shale oil production means it is now often more economical to 'flare off' unwanted gas than to sell it.
As a result, one field in North Dakota, the state leading the energy revolution, is now burning off enough gas to power all the homes in Chicago and Washington D.C. combined.
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Wasting energy: This NASA satellite image shows how the gas being burned off at the Bakken oil field in North Dakota is almost as bright as the light emitted from major U.S. cities such as Minneapolis-St Paul and Chicago
In a recently released satellite image
from NASA, the light being given off at the Bakken formation, almost
twice the size of Wales, easily competes in intensity with that being
emitted from those cities.
The volume of gas going up in flames at the plant rose by around 50 per cent last year alone in a practice that is causing growing concern about the waste of resources and the impact on the environment, according to the Financial Times.
The trend, which is being replicated in other shale regions such as Texas, has made the U.S. one of the world's worst offenders for gas flaring after the amount it burns off has tripled in the last five years, according to World Bank estimates.
The boom has come after advances in a process known as fracking, where a mixture of sand, water and chemicals is pumped into rocks to open cracks in a reservoir.
Illuminated: The trend, which is being replicated in other shale regions such as Texas, has made the U.S. one of the world's worst offenders for gas flaring
Burning: This map shows how North Dakota is now speckled with gas flares after a boom in shale oil production in recent years
In North Dakota, 150 oil companies have flooded the region drilling up to eight new wells a day and are producing roughly 660,000 barrels of oil.
It has reduced the country's need for oil imports and created thousands of jobs, but the abundant supplies of gas it has unlocked have outpaced development of infrastructure needed to store and pump it to populations.
More than 1,000 wells were connected to the Bakken system in 2012, for example, but that has not been enough to cut the proportion of the state’s gas being flared, currently at about 30 per cent.
But with gas prices having dropped from their 2008 peak of more than $13 per million British thermal units to just $3.40 because of increased production of the resource it is now uneconomic to build pipelines and storage tanks.
Up in flames: A ground flare burns gas at a well near Ray, North Dakota, where about 30 per cent of the natural gas produced is burned as waste
HOW FRACKING HAS FUELLED AMERICA'S INSATIABLE APPETITE FOR OIL AND GAS
With its voracious appetite for energy and a desire to be less reliant on imports, the U.S. became the first country to exploit the potential of fracking.
The process - shorthand for hydraulic fracturing - involves creating little explosions underground, then injecting water and chemicals to release gas and oil trapped in cavities in shale rocks.
In 1996, the U.S. produced just 0.3trillion cubic feet of shale gas.
By 2011, however, that figure had leapt to 7.8trillion, allowing America to transform itself from an importer to a net exporter of gas.
But the abundant supplies of gas have outpaced development of infrastructure around oil plants.
And with gas prices having dropped from their 2008 peak of more than $13 per million British thermal units to just $3.40 it is now uneconomic to build pipelines and storage tanks.
As a result, much of the gas is burned off instead.
Shale gas reserves are plentiful and widespread across much of the world, but until developments in fracking it has been largely inaccessible.
In China, explorable shale reserves are estimated at 86trillion cubic feet, enough to supply the nation's needs for two centuries
Liquid gold: Graphic showing how U.S. oil production outrip that of Saudi Arabia
Adam Brandt, a Stanford academic who studies greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, told the FT: 'The situation in the shale oilfields is similar to the early days of the US oil industry.
'Companies are in a race with their competitors to develop the resource, which means there is little incentive to delay production to reduce flaring.'
Flaring - which has increased emissions from North Dakota by around 20 per cent - has been a serious concern to investors and campaigners because of waste and damage to the environment.
Local farmers complain the constant fires are polluting the atmosphere and say they suspect state officials are granting exemptions rather than dealing with the issue.
The North Dakota legislature is, however, considering a bill which could offer tax breaks to encourage a reduction in flaring.