Energy Exchange

New research uncovers a climate blindspot for Canada’s oil and gas industry

Analyzing methane emissions in Canada's oilfield

By Scott Seymour and Ari Pottens

The Canadian government is likely overlooking an important source of climate pollution.  Surface casing vent flow and gas migration (types of underground leakage from oil and gas wells) has the potential to leak a lot of methane, but according to new research, neither governments nor companies know how much.

Canada has made a pledge to reduce 75% of the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions by 2030 as way to help combat climate change, but poor data and inaccurate estimates on well leakage makes it increasingly difficult to know if that goal is in sight.

New research reveals that across Alberta and British Columbia oil and gas well leakage could represent anywhere between 2-11% of the industry’s emissions. This huge range means policy makers can’t reliably know how this problem stacks up against other emission sources making it nearly impossible to set priorities or to craft regulations.

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Also posted in General / Authors: / Comments are closed

MethaneSAT brings key tool to oil & gas operators, gives stakeholders unprecedented transparency

By Andrew Baxter

Methane is now a central part of the oil & gas industry’s climate challenge. New regulations in the U.S and Europe, growing concern in Asia and mounting interest from investors and global gas markets mean increasing pressure to improve emissions performance. It was also a focal point in the COP28 climate talks, where 52 producers representing more than a third of global production joined the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter, pledging to reduce emissions to near zero and to eliminate routine flaring by 2030.

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Posted in Methane / Authors: / Comments are closed

EPA advances methane waste charge to help cut oil and gas pollution

Last week, EPA proposed details for how it will administer Congress’s methane waste emissions charge for excessive oil and gas pollution, passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program in 2022.  

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Also posted in Flaring, Methane regulatons / Authors: , / Comments are closed

New Louisiana rule will plug old oil wells, create jobs, safeguard environment

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has finalized new rules to help improve management of 17,000 non-productive oil and gas wells by encouraging their proper closure —an action that will create jobs, raise property values across the state and facilitate new clean energy projects.  

Louisiana has a long history of oil and gas development, with 50,000 wells distributed across the state and along the coast. The state has a responsibility to ensure none of these wells become an environmental or economic liability.

A long-abandoned oil well sits off Louisiana’s coast

About a third of these wells are non-producing but registered as having future utility, meaning the operator claims that they could be economically productive in the future. As a result, the operator isn’t required to plug the well. However, once wells are idled for more than three years, just one in five ever return to service. Often they will only see a tiny fraction of their former production levels.

Unplugged wells cause a host of economic, environmental and even public health and safety problems. They can leak methane and toxic air pollution, contaminate water, reduce property values and prevent other economic uses of the land. 

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Also posted in Methane regulatons / Comments are closed

New bipartisan legislation would give U.S. orphan well management efforts a huge boost

Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) meets with oil industry and environmental group leaders at kick-off event for orphan well remediation program in Adams County, CO

By Adam Peltz and Meg Coleman

Across the country, a million or more orphaned oil and gas wells threaten the climate, public health, groundwater and surface waters and hamper local economic development. Help is on the way thanks to a major federal effort to invest $4.7 billion in closing orphan wells under the Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells Act as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but the scale of the problem is vast.

In order to get a handle on these orphaned wells, New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján , Democrat,  and North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, Republican,  worked together to secure well closure funding in BIL. Now, they have reintroduced the Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act and a bipartisan group in the House led by Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee, Democrat,  and republican Oklahoma Rep. Stephanie Bice  have introduced a companion bill. This important, bipartisan legislation would invest more than $150 million over the next five years to help find an estimated 800,000 undocumented orphan wells, reuse those we can for beneficial purposes and ultimately close all of the rest more effectively and affordably. While partisan politics seem to divide the Capitol these days, it is exciting to see leaders on both sides of the aisle come together to address orphan wells.

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Also posted in Air Quality, Methane regulatons / Tagged | Authors: / Comments are closed

New rules could mean less waste, less pollution and more jobs for Louisiana

By Adam Peltz and Elizabeth Lieberknecht 

Recently, Louisiana, under the leadership of Gov. John Bel Edwards, became the latest state taking action to curb pollution and waste from oil and gas production. In a new proposal, the state says it will limit natural gas venting and flaring and attempt to reduce the risk of thousands of idle wells becoming orphaned. Both actions will help create jobs, protect taxpayers and safeguard the environment. Here’s how.

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Also posted in Air Quality, Flaring, Methane regulatons / Authors: / Comments are closed