Picture of natural gas being flared in North Dakota
The companies do this in order to access the more valuable oil, without having to transport the natural gas. There are so many fires that combine to produce lights that make North Dakota look like it has a cluster of cities in the western part of the state, as shown in the picture below:
This however is a terrible waste of gas and money, but currently there are no pipelines in this area of North Dakota. Oil can be transported by train, but pipelines or specially designed tanks are necessary for transportation of natural gas. Oil Companies are being sued by mineral owners for the lost income due to the burnt gas. Thus a solution needs to be reached where the natural gas can be transported, or refined nearby, to save money and use the valuable resources coming from the ground.
An article from NYT addressing this issue is found below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/business/energy-environment/oil-companies-are-sued-over-natural-gas-flaring-in-north-dakota.html?src=recg
Another article I found from geology.com addresses this issue as well:
http://geology.com/stories/13/natural-gas-flaring-in-north-dakota/
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