A company operating in Alaska’s North Slope burned off state-owned natural gas for four months instead of reinjecting it into the ground, as required by law.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission this week finalized a $313,616 fine against Cook Inlet Energy for flaring gas at the Badami oil and gas field in 2024 and 2025, according to an order obtained by the Alaska Beacon.

Alaska’s no-flare rule requires that companies capture and reinject natural gas, which along with oil are collectively owned by the state’s residents. The commission grants exceptions in emergencies, when companies drill test wells, or have no feasible way to capture the gas, according to the Alaska Beacon.

In an order issued Jan. 23, the commission wrote that the company’s flaring “had no direct relation to personnel safety concerns or the prevention of life-threatening conditions” and was instead was due to a failed piece of equipment needed to capture the gas flowing up from the ground alongside more valuable oil.

Rather than stopping oil production until it could capture the gas, Cook Inlet Energy simply burned it off in a flare, the order states.