Reducing methane losses across the gas value chain – Woodside journey to excellence

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 501
Author(s):  
Jarrod Pittson ◽  
Allie Convery
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Methane Emission ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Guiding Principles

Woodside is the first, and, to date, only, Australian listed company to be a signatory to the Methane Guiding Principles, an industry, non-Government organisation and educational institution collaboration aimed at reducing methane emissions across the natural gas value chain. Woodside’s methane emissions are ~0.04% of our total hydrocarbon production, or 400 kt CO2-eq per annum (Woodside Energy 2019). This is a relatively small methane emission footprint in comparison with other industrial and oil and gas operators; however, to ensure the greenhouse gas and environmental benefits of LNG over coal and other greenhouse intensive fossil fuels remain legitimate and substantial, we recognise the important role of minimising methane losses through the natural gas value chain. The global-warming potential of methane is 86 times more potent over a 20-year time frame than that of carbon dioxide (IPCC 2014). By tackling methane emissions, significant inroads can be made in reducing the impacts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Woodside became a signatory to the Methane Guiding Principles in April 2018 and has commenced a program of work to deliver on the five principles, which are to (1) continually reduce methane emissions, (2) advance strong performance across gas value chains, (3) improve accuracy of methane emissions data, (4) advocate sound policy and regulations on methane emissions and (5) increase transparency. This paper will focus on the journey we are on, namely, understanding our methane emission footprint within our operational boundaries and setting in place an action plan to reduce these emissions. But it is also a lot broader as we start to look beyond our gates to the transport and distribution networks, through to the end user turning on their gas stove at home. It is about cradle to grave custody of our product for it to be a viable long-term solution in a lower-carbon economy.

Deployment of Methane Detection and Quantification Technologies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor Arnida Abdul Talip ◽  
Mohd Hafiz Muhamad Pikri ◽  
Dr Shahrul Azman Zainal Abidin ◽  
Hasnor Hassaruddin Hashim
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Methane Emission ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Gas Processing ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Detection And Quantification

Abstract Methane emission affects advocacy on natural gas as low carbon fuel as it has a global warming potential of 25 times GWP compared to CO2. In promoting natural gas against coal and address concerns of stakeholders, it is critical for an Oil & Gas Company to manage the methane emissions across gas value chain for it be qualified as a cleaner fuel in the energy transition. Methane emission is usually quantified from key intended emission sources such as venting, flaring and combustion. With this greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions monitoring enables gradual reduction of large intended methane sources. However, unintended fugitive methane emission as well as those from other small intended sources such as compressor seals are usually not quantified and reported. In supporting energy transition, there is a need to step-up in accurate quantification and reduction of methane emissions and determine long term reduction target in driving competitiveness of natural gas as low carbon fuel. Hence, an initiative was taken to measure baseline data for methane emission for gas processing facilities and gas transmission and regasification unit by utilizing accurate measurement tools and methodologies for detection and quantification.

scholarly journals Methane emissions in the Netherlands: The Groningen field

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara I. Yacovitch ◽  
Bruno Neininger ◽  
Scott C. Herndon ◽  
Hugo Denier van der Gon ◽  
Sander Jonkers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Production Volume ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Source Characterization ◽  
Gas Field ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Individual Site

The Groningen natural gas field in the Netherlands – one of Europe’s major gas fields – deploys a “production cluster” infrastructure with extraction, some processing and storage in a single facility. This region is also the site of intensive agriculture and cattle operations. We present results from a multi-scale measurement campaign of methane emissions, including ground and airborne-based estimates. Results are compared with inventory at both the facility and regional level. Investigation of production cluster emissions in the Groningen gas field shows that production volume alone is not a good indicator of whether, and how much, a site is emitting methane. Sites that are nominally shut down may still be emitting, and vice-versa. As a result, the inventory emission factors applied to these sites (i.e. weighted by production) do a poor job of reproducing individual site emissions. Additional facility-level case studies are presented, including a plume at 150 ± 50 kg CH4 hr–1 with an unidentified off-shore emission source, a natural gas storage facility and landfills. Methane emissions in a study region covering 6000 km2 and including the majority of the Groningen field are dominated by biogenic sources (e.g. agriculture, wetlands, cattle). Total methane emissions (8 ± 2 Mg hr–1) are lower than inventory predictions (14 Mg hr–1) but the proportion of fossil fuel sources is higher than indicated by the inventory. Apportionment of methane emissions between thermogenic and biogenic source types used ethane/methane ratios in aircraft flasks and ground-based source characterization. We find that emissions from the oil and gas sector account for 20% of regional methane, with 95% confidence limits of (0%, 51%). The experimental uncertainties bound the inventory apportionment of 1.9%, though the central estimate of 20% exceeds this result by nearly 10 times. This study’s uncertainties demonstrate the need for additional research focusing on emissions apportionment, inventory refinement and offshore platforms.

scholarly journals Serbian gas sector in the spotlight of oil and gas agreement with Russia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Brkić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Policy ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Natural Gas Industry ◽  
South Stream

The Russian natural gas industry is the world's largest producer and transporter of natural gas. This paper identifies the benefits for Serbia as transient country to European Union for Russian natural gas through South Stream gas-line in the current political context of implementation of gas agreement. On the other hand, according to the Agreement on Stabilization and Integration to European Union, Serbia is obligatory to implement reforms in energy sector and its energy policy must be in accordance with the European Union policy. Republic of Serbia has produced and consumed natural gas domestically since 1952, but has always been net importer. Strategy of Energy Development in Serbia and especially, National Action Plan for the gasification on the territory of Republic of Serbia dedicated special attention to gas economy development in respect with expected contribution in efficient energy use and environmental policy protection in the country.

The extent of methane emission associated with the natural gas industry in southeastern Poland.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Jagoda ◽  
Jarosław Nęcki ◽  
Jakub Bartyzel ◽  
Piotr Korbeń ◽  
Michał Kud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Methane Emission ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Current Phase ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Gas Industry

<p>Goal of the CCAC project is to observe urban emission of natural gas over Canada and different countries in Europe. Our team was responsible for the Silesia and Sub-Carpathia regions in southern Poland. In this presentation we will focus on the methane emission measurements from gas pipelines, storages, gas wells as well as gathering and processing facilities, which was realized by our team in years 2018-2020.</p><p>South eastern Poland is rather rural part of the country with rich history of oil and gas industry going back to the XVI-th century. Currently Carpathians and Carpathian Foredeep regions gas industry produces 1.35 BILLIONS of m<sup>3</sup> [1]</p><p>The measurements have been carried out since summer 2016 mainly with Micro-Portable Greenhouse Gas Analyzer ‘Los Gatos Research, MGGA-918’ mounted on board of a car. We also had capability to deploy analyser in difficult terrain with its own power supply. During our measurements our team visited over 300 gas wells. We found that over half of these sites show elevated methane concentrations which can be attributed to either gas well itself or soil fractures around site. Transects paths were designed to follow pipelines. This allowed us to monitor possible leaks from the natural gas infrastructure. However there are numerous possible sources in close proximity of pipelines. We will discuss detection methods and variability study for dozens of transects. As of the 2017 only 9 gathering and processing facilities report release which states the emission of 1.8*10<sup>6</sup> m<sup>3</sup> CH<sub>4</sub> per year. One of the focus points of our project was to estimate how uncertain were methane emission from O&G in Poland which at current phase concludes methane emission of 7.5-40 kt CH4/year</p><p>During the presentation we will outline challenges in carrying out measurements with GPM, OTM 33a methods that were performed alongside large-area screening. We are developing oversized flow chamber method. Mobile structure is built in the shape of a dome. It has the radius of 3 meters which gives the chamber volume of 49 m<sup>3</sup>.</p><p><strong>This work was funded under the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Oil and Gas Methane Science Studies.</strong></p><p>[1]PSG, „Bilans zasobów złóż kopalin w Polsce wg stanu na 31 XII 2019 r,” PIG-PIB, Warsaw, 2020.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Declining methane emissions and steady, high leakage rates observed over multiple years in a western US oil/gas production basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Lin ◽  
Ryan Bares ◽  
Benjamin Fasoli ◽  
Maria Garcia ◽  
Erik Crosman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Production Region ◽  
Main Component ◽  
Oil Gas ◽  
The U.S

AbstractMethane, a potent greenhouse gas, is the main component of natural gas. Previous research has identified considerable methane emissions associated with oil and gas production, but estimates of emission trends have been inconsistent, in part due to limited in-situ methane observations spanning multiple years in oil/gas production regions. Here we present a unique analysis of one of the longest-running datasets of in-situ methane observations from an oil/gas production region in Utah’s Uinta Basin. The observations indicate Uinta methane emissions approximately halved between 2015 and 2020, along with declining gas production. As a percentage of gas production, however, emissions remained steady over the same years, at ~ 6–8%, among the highest in the U.S. Addressing methane leaks and recovering more of the economically valuable natural gas is critical, as the U.S. seeks to address climate change through aggressive greenhouse emission reductions.

Detection and quantification method intercomparison of methane emission from natural gas distribution network leaks in Hamburg, Germany

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Maazallahi ◽  
Antonio Delre ◽  
Lena Buth ◽  
Anders Michael Fredenslund ◽  
Ina Nagler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Distribution Network ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Gas Distribution ◽  
Tracer Gas ◽  
Moving Vehicle ◽  
Release Method

<p>On October 14, 2020 the European Commission adopted the EU methane strategy[1]. Measurement-based reporting of methane emissions will be crucial and may become legally binding. A variety of different methods are in use to quantify methane emissions from natural gas distribution networks, some attempting to quantify the pipeline leak under the ground, others attempting to quantify the emissions to the atmosphere. Comparisons between these methods are essential, as each method has its own advantages and limitations. In August and September 2020, we conducted an extensive campaign to compare three different methods, the mobile survey method, the tracer release method, and the suction techniques, to quantify emission rates of leaks from the natural gas distribution network in Hamburg, Germany. The mobile measurement technique employed two different cavity ringdown analyzers to identify and quantify methane, ethane and carbon dioxide using a moving vehicle. The tracer release technique measured methane and the tracer gas acetylene also with fast laser methods during driving or stationary deployment in a vehicle at an identified leak location. The suction method deployed soil sondes around an identified leak and measured methane in a stream of air pumped out of the soil until an equilibrium was reached.  In total, we targeted 20 locations that had been identified by mobile measurements or by the routine leak detection of the local gas utility, GasNetz Hamburg. For numerous locations we detected several emission outlets from e.g., cavities, cracks or drains and we used measurements of the ethane to methane ratio to identify possible mixture of fossil and microbial sources. We will compare the different quantification methods, including their suitability for routine application and precision and accuracy in emission quantification.</p><div><br><div> <p>[1] https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/eu_methane_strategy.pdf</p> </div> </div>

On the climate benefit of a coal-to-gas shift in Germany’s electric power sector

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Ladage ◽  
Martin Blumenberg ◽  
Dieter Franke ◽  
Andreas Bahr ◽  
Rüdiger Lutz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Electric Power ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Hard Coal ◽  
Power Sector ◽  
Electric Power Sector ◽  
Gas Supply

Abstract Methane emissions along the natural gas supply chain are critical for the climate benefit achievable by fuel switching from coal to natural gas in the electric power sector. For Germany, one of the world’s largest primary energy consumers, we conducted fleet-conversion modelling taking domestic and export country specific emissions in the natural gas and coal chains into account. Methane leakage rates below 4.9 % (GWP20; immediate 4.1 %) in the natural gas supply chain lead to overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by fuel shifting from lignite and hard coal to natural gas. Reported supply chain methane emissions for Germany’s natural gas mix are with < < 1 % leakage rates well below this Germany-specific break-even leakage rate. Even a potential supply by U.S.-American liquefied natural gas to Germany would not exceed this critical rate. Supply chain emission scenarios demonstrate that a complete shift to natural gas would emit 30–55 % less greenhouse gases than from the coal mix. However, further abating supply chain methane emissions in the oil and gas sector should remain a prime effort, when considering natural gas as bridge fuel on the path to achieve the Paris climate goals.

scholarly journals Identification and characterization of high methane-emitting abandoned oil and gas wells

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (48) ◽  
pp. 13636-13641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Kang ◽  
Shanna Christian ◽  
Michael A. Celia ◽  
Denise L. Mauzerall ◽  
Markus Bill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Methane Emission ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Emission Data ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Abandoned Wells ◽  
Oil Gas

Recent measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil/gas wells show that these wells can be a substantial source of methane to the atmosphere, particularly from a small proportion of high-emitting wells. However, identifying high emitters remains a challenge. We couple 163 well measurements of methane flow rates; ethane, propane, andn-butane concentrations; isotopes of methane; and noble gas concentrations from 88 wells in Pennsylvania with synthesized data from historical documents, field investigations, and state databases. Using our databases, we (i) improve estimates of the number of abandoned wells in Pennsylvania; (ii) characterize key attributes that accompany high emitters, including depth, type, plugging status, and coal area designation; and (iii) estimate attribute-specific and overall methane emissions from abandoned wells. High emitters are best predicted as unplugged gas wells and plugged/vented gas wells in coal areas and appear to be unrelated to the presence of underground natural gas storage areas or unconventional oil/gas production. Repeat measurements over 2 years show that flow rates of high emitters are sustained through time. Our attribute-based methane emission data and our comprehensive estimate of 470,000–750,000 abandoned wells in Pennsylvania result in estimated state-wide emissions of 0.04–0.07 Mt (1012g) CH4per year. This estimate represents 5–8% of annual anthropogenic methane emissions in Pennsylvania. Our methodology combining new field measurements with data mining of previously unavailable well attributes and numbers of wells can be used to improve methane emission estimates and prioritize cost-effective mitigation strategies for Pennsylvania and beyond.

scholarly journals Remote sensing of methane leakage from natural gas and petroleum systems revisited

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (15) ◽  
pp. 9169-9182
Author(s):  
Oliver Schneising ◽  
Michael Buchwitz ◽  
Maximilian Reuter ◽  
Steffen Vanselow ◽  
Heinrich Bovensmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Anadarko Basin ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Gas Fields

Abstract. The switch from the use of coal to natural gas or oil for energy generation potentially reduces greenhouse gas emissions and thus the impact on global warming and climate change because of the higher energy creation per CO2 molecule emitted. However, the climate benefit over coal is offset by methane (CH4) leakage from natural gas and petroleum systems, which reverses the climate impact mitigation if the rate of fugitive emissions exceeds the compensation point at which the global warming resulting from the leakage and the benefit from the reduction of coal combustion coincide. Consequently, an accurate quantification of CH4 emissions from the oil and gas industry is essential to evaluate the suitability of natural gas and petroleum as bridging fuels on the way to a carbon-neutral future. We show that regional CH4 release from large oil and gas fields can be monitored from space by using dense daily recurrent measurements of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) onboard the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite to quantify emissions and leakage rates. The average emissions for the time period 2018/2019 from the five most productive basins in the United States, the Permian, Appalachian, Eagle Ford, Bakken, and Anadarko, are estimated to be 3.18±1.13, 2.36±0.88, 1.37±0.63, 0.89±0.56, and 2.74±0.74 Mt yr−1, respectively. This corresponds to CH4 leakage rates relative to the associated production between 1.2 % and 1.4 % for the first four production regions, which are consistent with bottom-up estimates and likely fall below the break-even leakage rate for immediate climate benefit. For the Anadarko Basin, the fugitive emission rate is larger and amounts to 3.9±1.1 %, which likely exceeds the break-even rate for immediate benefit and roughly corresponds to the break-even rate for a 20-year time horizon. The determined values are smaller than previously derived satellite-based leakage rates for the time period 2009–2011, which was an early phase of hydraulic fracturing, indicating that it is possible to improve the climate footprint of the oil and gas industry by adopting new technologies and that efforts to reduce methane emissions have been successful. For two of the world's largest natural gas fields, Galkynysh and Dauletabad in Turkmenistan, we find collective methane emissions of 3.26±1.17 Mt yr−1, which corresponds to a leakage rate of 4.1±1.5 %, suggesting that the Turkmen energy industry is not employing methane emission avoidance strategies and technologies as successfully as those currently widely used in the United States. The leakage rates in Turkmenistan and in the Anadarko Basin indicate that there is potential to reduce fugitive methane emissions from natural gas and petroleum systems worldwide. In particular, relatively newly developed oil and gas plays appear to have larger leakage rates compared to more mature production areas.

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