Passing valves (leakage) (2025)

Topic last reviewed: February 2025
Sectors: Downstream, Midstream, Upstream

Valves that leak internally can lead to loss of gas or product to the flare system. During the design phase, valve specifications should be defined to avoid this issue. During the operational phase, surveys can be carried out to detect unintended fluid passage through the Not Normally Flowing (NNF) valves. A detailed explanation is provided in IOGP Report 673¹ Guidelines for design and operations to minimize and avoid flaring, which supplements the Ipieca-IOGP-GFMR² (formally GGFR) Flaring management guidance for the oil and gas industry with additional lessons learned from operators and designers to further reduce flaring sources.

IOGP Report 673 promotes and shares industry experience where technical solutions have resulted in a meaningful reduction of flared gas volumes. It also promotes the advantage of favouring flared gas source reduction. The focus is the upstream oil and gas industry. However, many of the principles and practices outlined can also be applied to the midstream and downstream sectors.

Implementation of additional lessons learned from operators and designers described in IOGP Report 673 is subject to:

• Government regulations, local law, and permits in the operating region
• Individual company requirements and guidance

References

1. IOGP Report 673 Guidelines for the design and operations to minimize and avoiding flaring
2. IOGP-Ipieca-GFMR Flaring management guidance for the oil and gas industry (IOGP 467)