In America’s Hottest Drilling Spot, Gas Is Going Up in Smoke

With consent from Texas regulators, producers flare freely in Permian Basin

The days of $2 a gallon gas are over in the U.S., as shifts in global oil production drive up prices. The WSJ's Stephanie Yang explains what's fueling the recent rise. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg News

In America’s busiest oil field, roughly $1 million worth of natural gas is burned away every day, going to waste.

Shale drillers in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico say they have no way to move the gas—a byproduct of oil drilling—to market because there aren’t enough natural-gas pipelines. Instead, they are getting rid of the excess gas by setting it on fire, a practice known as flaring.

Companies...