The crackdown is part of the regulator's commitment towards upholding its flaring and venting guidance, which aims to eliminate unnecessary or wasteful flaring and venting of gas, with a view towards achieving zero routine flarings and venting by 2030.
While venting is the discharging of gases into the atmosphere, flaring is burning the gases before they are discharged and mainly results in CO2 emissions.
Inspectors revealed UK-based EnQuest was fined £150,000 for flaring an excess 262 tonnes of gas on the Magnus Field, in the North Sea, between November 30 and December 1 last year, "despite knowing it did not have the necessary consent in place", the NSTA said.
Norway-based Equinor was also fined £65,000 for flaring at least 348 tonnes of CO2 above the amount permitted on the Barnacle Field, located in the North Sea, between June and November 2020.
According to the NSTA, Equinor uses an allocation model to measure flaring volumes for the...