BAKKEN SHALE
As gas continues to go up in the air, N.D. moves to tighten loose flaring rules
Each day for the past few weeks, Bob Skarphol has driven past an oil well near his North Dakota home, where a 30-foot flame shoots into the sky. The well's operator is burning the natural gas that's produced with the oil, even though there's a gas pipeline across the road from the well site, Skarphol, a Republican state legislator from Tioga, said in an interview. It's a common sight in North Dakota's Bakken Shale oil field, where about one-third of natural gas production is being burned in flares."It's frustrating to see that gas being flared and pay your utility bill in the winter time," Skarphol said.