ExxonMobil and BP are among the worst culprits for wastefully burning off natural gas in the United States’ top oil fields, despite presenting themselves as leaders in tackling the problem, Unearthed can reveal.

The oil giants have both committed to drastically rein in flaring – where gas is burned with no economic benefit – as a key part of their response to the climate crisis.

But a major new investigation by Unearthed, based on official industry data, has found that they are among the worst performers when it comes to minimising emissions from their operations in one or more of the United States’ “Big Three” oil fields.

Independent fracking firms, Marathon Oil, Whiting Petroleum and Hess Corporation are also disposing of unprecedented volumes of natural gas, either by releasing it directly into the atmosphere or burning it off – practices called venting and flaring.

In recent years a surge in oil production has lit up the skies across Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota as companies burn off billions of cubic feet of natural gas.

Industry claims to support methane regulation look like greenwashing

Now, for the first time, Unearthed can reveal the scale of this waste and the oil companies most culpable for the enormous greenhouse gas emissions created by venting and flaring in America’s biggest oil fields.

Together, the Eagle Ford basin in Texas; the Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico and the Bakken formation in North Dakota, accounted for 57% of US oil production in 2018.

But they also harbour billions of cubic feet of natural gas and oil companies often find it easier and cheaper to dispose of it into the atmosphere than capture and transport it to where it can be sold and used to generate energy.

Unearthed can reveal that over a period of just 12 months, companies operating in these oil fields have vented or flared 369 billion cubic feet of natural gas, roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 10 coal-fired power stations or 8 million cars.

This is particularly problematic because the Permian is set to be the focal point of a boom in global oil production over the next decade.

The investigation, based on official industry data provided by Rystad Energy, also found: