Energy Exchange

Permian a litmus test for oil and gas industry’s methane targets

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 4, 2018

This blog was co-authored by Jon Goldstein and Colin Leyden.

What may be becoming the world’s largest oil field may also be the world’s largest test for the oil and gas industry’s commitments to setting targets for driving down methane emissions.

Several major oil and gas producers, including BP and XTO, have announced strategies in recent months to limit methane emissions. And several more including Shell, Pemex and Statoil have committed to a near-zero methane future and announced plans to release reduction targets this fall.

Also posted in Air Quality, Methane, Texas / Tagged New Mexico | Comments are closed

American people speak loud and clear on Zinke’s proposal to gut the BLM methane rule

By Dan Grossman / Published: May 3, 2018

Over the past months more than 400,000 Americans weighed in on a proposal by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to gut the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Methane and Natural Gas Waste Prevention Rule. And more than 98 percent of the comments received urged BLM to keep the strong rule in place to force oil and gas operators to crack down on waste and pollution when profiting from the public’s natural resources. Now that’s a landslide!

Also posted in BLM Methane, Methane / Comments are closed

Four ways California utilities can make a big dent in reducing methane emissions

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 2, 2018

This blog was co-authored by Tim O’Connor and Ellison Folk, an Environmental Attorney at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger.

California utilities finally have a set of plans to cut methane leakage from the state’s natural gas pipelines. This is good news, but there are still a handful of improvements that could help make the state’s gas pipelines leak even less.

Methane leakage is a serious environmental and safety issue that afflicts the entire natural gas supply chain. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that must be reduced if California is to reach is ambitious climate goals.

Even before the Aliso Canyon disaster attracted national attention, California passed a groundbreaking law (SB 1371) requiring public utilities to reduce natural gas emissions. Last June, the California Public Utilities Commissioned ruled utilities must adopt plans that implement 26 best practices (See Appendix B) to reduce methane emissions.

Also posted in California, Methane / Comments are closed

Canada adopts historic methane rules. Alberta may undercut them.

By Drew Nelson / Published: April 26, 2018

Last night, Canada finalized new national regulations on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, its largest methane polluter. The rules are among the most comprehensive in the world, putting Canada on a clear path toward its 40 to 45 percent methane reduction goal, and delivering on a critical element of the Canadian climate plan.

By finalizing regulations on methane, Canada continues its international climate leadership and is implementing policies to help achieve its Paris commitment. Further, this action places Canada as another example of the momentum building to reduce oil and gas methane emissions – one of the cheapest and most impactful things we can do now to slow the rate of warming. Read More »

Also posted in Methane / Tagged Canada methane, global methane | Comments are closed

Investors: Methane targets wanted

By Sean Wright / Published: April 19, 2018

With upcoming annual meetings full of shareholder resolutions calling on companies to set greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, EDF released “Taking Aim”, a new paper explaining why methane targets are the next frontier for the oil and gas industry and establishing five keys for strong targets. The paper explains how companies that set targets are more likely to be successful when it comes to securing methane emission reductions. Setting targets also demonstrates to investors that corporate decision makers understand methane risk management is critical to competing in an ever-cleaner energy market.

With the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) framework also highlighting the importance of targets, “Taking Aim” provides some initial guidelines that can help frame what an ambitious, leading target looks like for oil and gas industry methane.

Also posted in Methane / Comments are closed

What ALA’s most recent State of the Air Report reveals about oil and gas air pollution in the Western U.S.

By Dan Grossman / Published: April 18, 2018

The American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air Report today, revealing what many communities have known for quite some time: air pollution from oil and gas operations is a growing concern.

Air pollution has often been a challenge for highly-populated areas of the United States, but it is an issue rural communities have largely been able to avoid. However, that seems to be changing according to the ALA’s findings. La Plata County in Colorado and Duchesne and Uintah counties in Utah all received an “F” grade due to high levels of ozone. None has a population over 60,000 people, but each is home to significant amounts of oil and gas production.

Also posted in Air Quality, BLM Methane, Colorado, Wyoming / Tagged New Mexico | Comments are closed