"Oil Patch Gas Flaring Continues To Go Up"

"SAN ANTONIO - Gas flares in the Eagle Ford Shale burned more than 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas and released tons of pollutants into the air in the first seven months of 2014 - exceeding the total waste and pollution for the entire year of 2012.

New records analyzed by the San Antonio Express-News show flaring in the oil patch has continued to increase in the Eagle Ford, an upward trend first revealed in a yearlong San Antonio Express-News investigation called Up in Flames that was published in August.

The Express-News obtained new flaring data from the Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees the oil and gas industry. The updated database shows that from January to July, energy companies flared and wasted enough natural gas to fuel CPS Energy’s 800-megawatt Rio Nogales power plant during the same seven-month period."

John Tedesco, Jennifer Hiller, and Joseph Kokenge report for the San Antonio Express-News December 20, 2014.