Country
Assessment
Sonatrach, in alignment with Algeria’s NDC, targets less than 1 percent of total associated gas to be flared by 2030. Law No. 19-13, 2019 , prohibits flaring and venting except under certain conditions but does not specify any targets or limits. Executive Decree 21-330, 2021, repeals Executive Decree 13-400, 2013, regarding conditions for allowed flaring. There are limits on the duration of flaring (see section 10 of this chapter). Article 9(d) limits flaring during production to 1 percent of total volumes produced but Article 9(e) allows, subject to regulatory approval, for 12 months of flaring in the case of infrastructure bottlenecks. Article 19 limits flaring during midstream activities to 1 percent of the hydrocarbons transported via pipelines or entering processing or refining facilities.
Article 160 of Law No. 19-13, 2019 , states that ALNAFT and the ARH regulate flaring operations and volumes flared. The ARH develops technical regulations for oil and gas activities; ALNAFT is primarily responsible for efficient oil and gas project development. According to Article 22, both regulators are legally independent and financially autonomous. Before 2005, Sonatrach was the regulator despite also being the national oil company.
According to Article 159 of Law No. 19-13, 2019 , flaring for safety does not require prior authorization. However, operators must provide a detailed report of the flare to the relevant regulatory agency within 10 days. Articles 7 and 18 of the Executive Decree 21-330, 2021 , codify these requirements for upstream and midstream operations, respectively. As per Article 26, venting for safety during pipeline transport is treated the same way. Neither the law nor the executive decree defines technical reasons for flaring for safety. However, Article 43 of Law No. 19-13, 2019, charges the ARH with developing regulations concerning industrial safety, well integrity, and prevention of risks to the health and safety of employees. At the time of writing, the ARH had not published relevant regulations for Law No. 19-13, 2019.
Article 158 of Law No. 19-13, 2019 , prohibits flaring and venting. According to Article 3 of Executive Decree 21-330, 2021 , flaring is allowed, with prior application to ALNAFT, under certain conditions. Such conditions include: during well testing and debottlenecking; at the start-up of new facilities; at facilities built before July 19, 2005, and waiting to be retrofitted (per Article 235 of Law No. 19-13, 2019); or in the absence of sufficient takeaway pipeline or processing capacity. However, there are limits. For example, during exploration (Article 8 of the Executive Decree 21-330, 2021) the following limits are listed: 24 hours within 5 days for delineation wells, 48 hours within 10 days for wells exploring new horizons, 15 days or 5 million cubic meters (m3) for pilot wells, and 12 months or 50 million m3 for remote wells expected to produce oil and gas.
Upstream flares require authorization from ALNAFT; midstream or downstream flares require authorization from the ARH. In exceptional situations, venting during pipeline activities may be allowed, but authorization from the ARH is required.
A development plan needs to be approved by ALNAFT, according to Law No. 19-13, 2019 . There is no explicit requirement for this plan to include associated gas disposal, but the plan must cover all commercially exploitable hydrocarbons (Article 106). According to Article 107, the plan must also include measurement and delivery points for all extracted hydrocarbons and allow for production optimization throughout the life of the asset.
No evidence regarding economic evaluations could be found in the sources consulted.
Flare volumes must be reported, because they are used to calculate flare taxes (see section 21 of this chapter). Taxes create an incentive for operators to measure or estimate their flare volumes as accurately as possible. Article 15 of Executive Decree 21-330, 2021 , requires the national company or contractors to report the start and end dates of flaring and the volumes flared to ALNAFT within 30 days. An annual report specifying the volumes flared is to be submitted to ALNAFT by January 31 of the following year. Article 16 requires the national company or contractors to include all flaring (regardless of the cause) in the gas material balance. The requirements for midstream activities are the same, but also include venting. Article 28 requires midstream operators to report the start and end dates of flaring and the volumes flared to ARH within 30 days. Article 24 requires midstream operators to submit an annual report to ARH by January 31 of the following year, specifying the volumes flared and vented. Article 27 requires midstream operators to include all volumes flared and vented (regardless of the cause) in the gas material balance.
Article 43 of Law No. 19-13, 2019 , requires the ARH to develop technical standards and regulations. Article 6 contains a general requirement that producers apply international best practices and techniques in hydrocarbon activities to “prevent, reduce and manage risks” associated with these activities. At the time of writing, the ARH had not published any relevant regulations for Law No. 19-13, 2019.
Article 227 allows the ARH to assess a daily penalty of 100,000 Algerian dinars (about US$750 as of September 2021) for noncompliance with Law No. 19-13, 2019 or its implementing regulations. The penalty starts at least a month after the offending party is notified of the violation. This delay is to allow for remediation or elimination of the violation. No evidence of penalties specific to violating flaring and venting regulations could be found in the sources consulted.
Article 226 allows ALNAFT to suspend or cancel authorizations for upstream prospecting or concessions if a licensee violates any provision of Law No. 19-13, 2019 . No evidence of nonmonetary penalties for violating flaring and venting regulations could be found in the sources consulted.
No evidence regarding specific performance requirements could be found in the sources consulted. However, the ARH is empowered to develop environmental regulations (including emissions from oil and gas operations) under Law No. 19-13, 2019 (see section 7 of this chapter, and footnote 5). However, implementing regulations had not been published at the time of writing.