Natural Gas is flared for a number of reasons.
1. pipeline to capture the NG is not extended to where the well is. (small production wells might never pay to extend the pipeline.)
2. the NG might contain hydrogen sulfide gas, which is lethal and it settles not rises in the atmosphere.
note:
I don’t have any interest in taking sides between totalitarian Russia and the global fascist Zelensky Regime. Both are very bad choices and it is not in the interest of the USA to be cheerleaders for either of them.
Totalitarianism in all forms is EVIL!
Rus are flaring off all that natural gas that would have been sold to Europe, to relive pressure of the downstream pipes, valves infrastructure. The gas is streaming out of the ground and has to go somewhere. Or some of the gaz infrastructure will come apart.
So why don’t the Rus leave their natural gas in the ground? Why are they sending it to the Nord Stream pipeline to be flared off. It looks to me like it is gas business as usual. Except that instead of sending their gaz through the pipeline to Germany, they flare it off.
Rus were doing this before the Nord Stream explosions disabled it/them