scholarly journals Mobile measurement of methane emissions from natural gas developments in northeastern British Columbia, Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (20) ◽  
pp. 12405-12420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmaline Atherton ◽  
David Risk ◽  
Chelsea Fougère ◽  
Martin Lavoie ◽  
Alex Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Detection Limit ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Minimum Detection Limit ◽  
Emission Sources ◽  
Natural Gas Development ◽  
Unconventional Natural Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Sector

Abstract. North American leaders recently committed to reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, but information on current emissions from upstream oil and gas developments in Canada are lacking. This study examined the occurrence of methane plumes in an area of unconventional natural gas development in northwestern Canada. In August to September 2015 we completed almost 8000 km of vehicle-based survey campaigns on public roads dissecting oil and gas infrastructure, such as well pads and processing facilities. We surveyed six routes 3–6 times each, which brought us past over 1600 unique well pads and facilities managed by more than 50 different operators. To attribute on-road plumes to oil- and gas-related sources we used gas signatures of residual excess concentrations (anomalies above background) less than 500 m downwind from potential oil and gas emission sources. All results represent emissions greater than our minimum detection limit of 0.59 g s−1 at our average detection distance (319 m). Unlike many other oil and gas developments in the US for which methane measurements have been reported recently, the methane concentrations we measured were close to normal atmospheric levels, except inside natural gas plumes. Roughly 47 % of active wells emitted methane-rich plumes above our minimum detection limit. Multiple sites that pre-date the recent unconventional natural gas development were found to be emitting, and we observed that the majority of these older wells were associated with emissions on all survey repeats. We also observed emissions from gas processing facilities that were highly repeatable. Emission patterns in this area were best explained by infrastructure age and type. Extrapolating our results across all oil and gas infrastructure in the Montney area, we estimate that the emission sources we located (emitting at a rate > 0.59 g s−1) contribute more than 111 800 t of methane annually to the atmosphere. This value exceeds reported bottom-up estimates of 78 000 t of methane for all oil and gas sector sources in British Columbia. Current bottom-up methods for estimating methane emissions do not normally calculate the fraction of emitting oil and gas infrastructure with thorough on-ground measurements. However, this study demonstrates that mobile surveys could provide a more accurate representation of the number of emission sources in an oil and gas development. This study presents the first mobile collection of methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure in British Columbia, and these results can be used to inform policy development in an era of methane emission reduction efforts.

scholarly journals Mobile measurement of methane emissions from natural gas developments in Northeastern British Columbia, Canada

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmaline Atherton ◽  
David Risk ◽  
Chelsea Fougere ◽  
Martin Lavoie ◽  
Alex Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Detection Limit ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Minimum Detection Limit ◽  
Detection Distance ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Oil And Gas Sector

Abstract. North American leaders recently committed to reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, but information on current emissions from Canadian unconventional developments is lacking. This study examined the incidence of methane in an area of unconventional natural gas development in northwestern Canada. In August to September 2015 we completed almost 8000 km of vehicle-based survey campaigns on public roads dissecting developments that mainly access the Montney formation in northeastern British Columbia. Six survey routes were repeated 3–6 times and brought us past over 1600 unique well pads and facilities developed by more than 50 different operators. To attribute on-road plumes to infrastructural sources we used gas signatures of residual excess concentrations (anomalies above background) less than 500 m downwind from infrastructural sources. All results represent emissions greater than our minimum detection limit of 0.59 g/s at our average detection distance (319 m). Unlike many other developments in the US for which methane measurements have been reported recently, the methane concentrations we measured at surface were close to normal atmospheric levels, except inside natural gas plumes. Roughly 47 % of active wells emitted methane-rich plumes above our minimum detection limit. Abandoned and under-development well sites also emitted methane-rich plumes, but the incidence rate was below that of producing wells. Multiple sites that pre-date the recent unconventional Montney development were found to be emitting, and in general we observed that older infrastructure tended to emit more often (per unit) with comparable severity in terms of measured excess concentrations on-road. We also observed emissions from facilities of various types that were highly repeatable. Emission patterns in this area were best explained by infrastructure age and type. Extrapolating our results across the Montney development, we estimate that the emission sources we located (emitting at a rate > 0.59 g/s) contribute more than 111,800 tonnes of methane annually to the atmosphere. This value exceeds reported bottom-up estimates of 78,000 tonnes for all oil and gas sector sources in British Columbia, of which the Montney represents about 55 % of production. The results also demonstrate that mobile surveys could be used to exhaustively screen developments for super-emitters, because without our intensive 6-fold replication we could have used single-pass sampling to screen 80 % of Montney-related infrastructure. This is the first bottom-up study of fugitive emissions in the Canadian energy sector, and these results can be used to inform policy development in an era of methane emission reduction efforts.

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.

LEGAL MECHANISMS FOR STIMULATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR OF THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viacheslav Olegovich Mosalygin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Tax Revenues ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
Oil And Natural Gas ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Government ◽  
Oil And Gas Sector

For more than 15 years, a significant part of the budget revenues of the Russian Federation have been tax revenues from the sale of hydrocarbons, in particular oil and natural gas. Despite the desire of our government to minimize its dependence on oil and gas revenues, the government continues to implement measures to encourage both small and large companies by providing some tax-related benefits, thereby encouraging the fields to further develop and expand.

scholarly journals Environmental and Indigenous issues associated with natural gas development in British Columbia

2018 ◽  
pp. 3-48
Author(s):  
Anna Vypovska ◽  
Laura Johnson ◽  
Dinara Millington ◽  
Allan Fogwill
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Natural Gas Development

Caprica Energy and Its Choices

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Jared D. Harris ◽  
Samuel E. Bodily ◽  
Jenny Mead ◽  
Donald Adolphson ◽  
Brad Carmack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Coalbed Methane ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Potential Harm ◽  
Natural Gas Development ◽  
Unconventional Natural Gas ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Different Parts

Jane Barrow, CEO of Caprica Energy, must recommend to the board which of three potential “unconventional ” natural-gas development sites in different parts of the United States the company should pursue. The case takes place in January 2011, when the “low-hanging fruit ” of natural-gas production in the United States had essentially been picked. All three of the potential sites (shale, coalbed methane, and tight sands) would require hydraulic fracturing, a process of removing gas that was formerly considered inaccessible by injecting water and chemicals into the ground. Because of emerging concerns about the potential harm “fracking ” can do to drinking water, Barrow must not only analyze which site might be most profitable but also what the potential risks to the environment and area residents might be.

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