Several oil and gas companies and trade associations in Texas, the biggest oil producing state in the United States, formed a coalition on 31 March to develop and recommend solutions to minimize flaring and methane emissions.
The new group, the Texas Methane and Flaring Coalition, will also use data and other evidence to communicate why and when flaring is necessary.
Flaring is the deliberate burning of unwanted polluting gas during oil production and is an acute problem in Texas, home to most of the Permian Basin, the biggest U.S. shale field.
Texas regularly allows companies to burn or vent gas above regulations. It has issued more than 35,000 flaring permits since 2013 and has not denied any, according to the state commission.