Oil’s Big Crash Has Permian Explorers Flaring Less Gas (1)

Collapsing oil prices are having at least one positive side effect: less flaring in North America’s biggest shale field.

In the Permian Basin, flaring -- the process of burning off unwanted natural gas flowing from oil wells -- dropped in the first quarter to the lowest since the third quarter of 2018, according to Rystad Energy AS. As a slowdown in crude drilling begins to erode output in coming months, flaring will decline even faster because new wells tend to be the source of most flared gas, the Oslo-based research firm said in a report Monday.

“While the downturn ...