Energy Exchange

Selected tag(s): oil and gas

As API changes leaders, it must change leadership

By Ben Ratner / Published: January 17, 2018

With Jack Gerard stepping down as head of the American oil and gas industry’s most powerful trade association, industry has an important opportunity to change with the times.

The oil and gas industry and its ecosystem are evolving rapidly before our eyes. Technology improvements allow ever more efficient production. Resource discovery in areas like the Permian Basin unlock opportunity and drilling activity that few ever thought possible. But the most profound change is happening above ground—the steadily growing calls for climate action by investors, governments, corporate energy users, and society at large.

The future of industry—its very prospect of surviving, let alone thriving, in a decarbonizing world—depends on its ability to meet society’s demands, not just for energy, but for leadership.

Why 10,000 Spills From Oil and Gas Development Can’t Be Ignored

By Nichole Saunders / Published: July 22, 2016

The “Texon Scar”
A massive release of produced water from an oil well in West Texas caused a vegetative dead zone that can be seen from space.

Oil and gas development produces massive amounts of air and water pollution that can have severe impacts on our communities and ecosystems. And data in a recent investigative article could help us understand more about where and how much oil, wastewater, and other fluids are spilled across the country.

According to an EnergyWire article by Pamela King and Mike Soraghan, in 2015 industry reported more than 10,000 cases of spills across the country. That amounts to 42 million gallons of harmful fluids – 12 million gallons more than previously reported.
Read More »

Posted in Natural Gas, produced water, Texas / Also tagged oil spills, produced water, Water | Comments are closed

Report Card Blues: ALA Report Shows Western Air Needs Improvement

By Jon Goldstein / Published: April 28, 2015

It’s report card time for air quality in the U.S. and, unfortunately, several western states are getting grades of “needs improvement.” That’s the take-away from the American Lung Association’s (ALA) annual “State of the Air” report released today. When it comes to unhealthy ozone pollution (commonly referred to as “smog”), several western states are simply not making the grade.

Once mainly seen in major urban areas, smog pollution is now becoming more and more of an issue in the rural mountain west. This is bad news for local residents as smog can cause serious health impacts like aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis, and heart attacks. At times, areas like the Upper Green River Basin in Wyoming have experienced smog levels that rival Los Angeles.

One of the main culprits? Air pollution from oil and gas development. Ozone pollution is created by an interaction between two different sorts of air pollutants, oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Oil and gas development provides a significant source of both of these air contaminants across many parts of the West. Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, Colorado, Wyoming / Also tagged air pollution, air quality, Ozone | Comments are closed

Dope Deal: Wall Street Journal Falls for Methane “Facts” Cooked by Industry

By Mark Brownstein / Published: January 6, 2015

Source: flickr.com/photos/earthworks When credibility is your stock in trade, it’s important to have your facts straight. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal blew it.

In an unsigned opinion piece dubbed “Meth Heads in the White House,” the paper dismisses plans expected to be announced by the Obama administration in the next few weeks that would start to tackle the huge amount of methane leaking from America’s oil & gas production facilities.

The question is a significant one, because – as the article notes in passing – methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas (in point of fact, packing more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20 year time frame). According to EPA data, oil & gas operations emit roughly 8 million metric tons of unburned methane annually, enough gas to heat nearly 6 million homes. Read More »

Posted in Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Also tagged Climate, Methane | Comments are closed

Clearing the Air: Environmental Groups Push for Clean Air Standards for Oil and Gas Industry

By Peter Zalzal / Published: May 27, 2014

This post was co-authored by Peter Zalzal, EDF Attorney, and Brian Korpics, EDF Legal Fellow

On May 13, EDF—along with a coalition of 64 local, state, and national public interest groups—submitted a petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to address toxic air pollution emitted from oil and natural gas operations in population centers around the country.

Earthjustice crafted the petition which focuses on a provision of the Clean Air Act. It authorizes EPA to establish standards for toxic pollution from oil and natural gas wells if those wells are in major metropolitan areas (areas with a population greater than 1 million), and if the agency finds the emissions “present more than a negligible risk of adverse effects to public health.”

Posted in Air Quality / Also tagged Clean Air, environment, Methane, Natural Gas | Read 1 Response

Another Major Methane Study Shows Action is Needed Now to Reduce Emissions

By Steven Hamburg / Published: February 14, 2014

This commentary originally appeared on the EDF Voices Blog.

Mounting scientific evidence underscores the crucial importance of reducing methane emissions in the U.S. The latest study, published today in the journal Science, reviewed available data from the past 20 years and found that methane emissions from the U.S. natural gas supply chain are almost two times greater than current official estimates – flagging once again that methane emissions are a serious problem. However, the Stanford-led team also concluded that the current levels of methane leakage negates the climate benefit of switching to natural gas under some scenarios and not others, such as moving from coal-powered to natural gas electric generation.

As for what contributes to the higher than expected emissions, the study authors cited differing measurement techniques—including “bottom-up” direct measurement at the source, “top-down” readings from aircraft, and others—as well as the presence of “super-emitters” (a small number of sites or pieces of equipment producing a large share of emissions). Super-emitters are not easily sampled using most bottom-up direct measurement approaches. The team also spotlighted challenges associated with an increasingly ambiguous distinction between emissions from natural gas and oil production, both of which contribute methane to the atmosphere.

Posted in Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged oil and gas | Read 1 Response