Offshore and relatively remote crude rigs commonly flare off natural gas because of the cost involved in attaching them to collection pipelines (and infeasibility of condensing it to LNG). That is why the Bakken fields can be seen from space at night: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ceres.org&#x2F;industry-initiatives&#x2F;oil-and-gas&#x2F;gas-flares-from-space" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ceres.org&#x2F;industry-initiatives&#x2F;oil-and-gas&#x2F;gas-fl...</a>