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To provide clean, affordable, reliable energy, industry needs to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with each unit of energy. As methane is the main component in natural gas, methane emissions are usually easier to mitigate since there tends to be operational measures for abatement as well as market data on the price of methane.
However, when considering current progress towards 2030 decarbonisation goals, there is a lot of extra work to do. During the recent Gastech leadership roundtable discussion on how the energy industry can leverage collaborative action and funding to achieve 2030 methane emissions goals, the participants agreed that it is important for us to join up as a global energy industry and begin speaking a common language.
Standardising methane emissions measurements
With all the different ways of measuring methane emissions, it is difficult for us to truly understand the data. We end up spending more time trying to establish a baseline and figure out how we are going to measure it, as opposed to acting on mitigating the emissions.
The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) is one way in which companies are working together to establish a global industry standard. OGCI is supporting regulation to reduce methane emissions from existing and new sources. International institutions, think tanks and organisations are working together through this initiative to develop programmes and tools to monitor and measure methane emissions and identify abatement potential.
The MiQ Standard is another common methodology that can be adopted universally to bring standardisation across the global industry. This standalone framework assesses the methane emissions intensity and carbon intensity of assets across the natural gas supply chain and some stages of the crude oil and natural gas liquids supply chain. It is followed by many operators and used by accredited, independent auditors to assess an operator's emissions intensity and overall emissions performance.
Accelerating progress through policy and investment
With a collaborative policy landscape where national and regional governments work in tandem with one another, we have seen how policy can be a driver that moves the industry forward. The United States took steps to begin penalising methane leaks in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which introduced the first-ever federal fee on methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The IRA also allocated over $1.5 billion in funding to help oil and gas operators cut emissions. On top of that, the state of Texas has created an environment where certified gas can be traded, creating a free market dynamic for consumers who will buy certified gas.
When it comes to investing in the solutions to mitigate methane emissions, it is not that there is no money to do it. It is just not prioritised, and people do not know what to do first. There are several methods to reduce methane emissions from leak detection to flare gas capture to engineering it out. All these methods are needed and have a different effectiveness.
One such method that we have been implementing at Wood is through our technology partner Xplorobot. We incorporate their technology into our maintenance services to monitor asset performance and address areas of concern through data capture and analytics. During a pilot study at the Carbon Creek Energy site in Wyoming, we were able to quickly detect, analyse and address leaks within 24 hours.
It was only a few years ago that a goal for methane emissions reduction by 2030 was being touted. It is inspiring to see how impactful working together as an integrated energy community has moved the discussion from "if" to "how" and the role Wood plays as a critical enabler for operators to reduce their methane footprints.
Learn more
For more of the key takeaways from this leadership roundtable discussion, read the Gastech key outcome report prepared by knowledge partner BloombergNEF.
