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I thought that one of the reasons given for drilling was to use the gas and petroleum.Instead,what are they doing burning it wastefully by flaring the gas off.

That gas could be used to heat homes and fuel our industrial capacity.

The wells have to be drilled in a rapid, scattered fashion because the acreage is expiring. If these were gas wells, the operators would already have the pipelines being built to take the gas. These are oil wells and the gas produced is minor compared to the oil. Eventually, when enough wells are drilled throughout the area, they will hook up the wells to a pipeline. To put it into prospective, the oil wells begin producing at around 1000 BOPD, which equates to $100,000 per day at $100/barrel. The gas rate is probably on the order of 500 MCFGD, which at $3.00/MCF equates to $15,000 per day. They flow the wells back for the oil and wait for the gas pipeline to come after wards. Trust me, it is temporary as the gas is still worth quite a bit.