Oil and natural gas producers continue to make emissions reduction advancements, including reducing flare intensity despite record production, according to the Environmental Partnership’s latest annual report.

The Environmental Partnership (TEP) is a voluntary coalition representing nearly 70 percent of U.S. onshore oil and natural gas production in 47 out of 50 states, with the mission to continuously improve environmental performance by sharing best practices and collaborating to ensure industry innovation.

TEP Director Emily Hague said:

“The success of industry-led initiatives like The Environmental Partnership further demonstrates our industry’s unwavering commitment to reducing methane emissions across the supply chain while helping to ensure the continued production of affordable and reliable energy.”

Vanessa Ryan, chair of The Environmental Partnership and manager of methane reduction for Chevron, said:

“It’s been a transformational year for our industry with new challenges and opportunities, but what remains clear is the commitment of program participants to reducing methane emissions. I am excited by what we’ve accomplished over the past year and look forward to the continued progress this industry-leading partnership is positioned to achieve in the years ahead.”

Those milestones include:

Reduction In Flare Intensity and Volume

In 2023, TEP participants continued to reduce their emissions with a 6.6 percent reduction in flare intensity and a 10 percent reduction in total flare volumes compared to 2022, even while U.S. oil production grew by nine percent, and gas production by four percent, in this same period. Since 2019, members have reduced their reported flare volumes by a whopping 75 percent-plus.

This performance is the result of the implementation of best practices eliminating flaring when possible and ensuring optimal flare efficiency and performance when flaring is necessary. In fact, 67 percent of the TEP participants shared that they have specific practices in place to monitor flaring and enhance performance, driven by the Flare Management Program, one of TEP’s environmental performance programs.

This reduction in flare intensity, combined with other efforts, showcases industry innovation in cutting methane emissions, which declined by 37 percent across U.S. onshore production regions between 2015 and 2022, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, even as production has hit record levels.

Reduced Leak Occurrence and Detection

TEP participants also enhanced their detection strategies to prevent emissions and reduced their leak occurrence rate by 0.10 percent between 2018 and 2023, or less than one component leaking in 1,000.

This was mainly achieved through leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs applied to equipment, including valves, pumps, and connectors. Since TEP launched, participants have performed more than 1.23 billion component inspections.

In 2023 alone, they conducted approximately 640,000 leak-monitoring surveys – more than 60 percent of which were conducted voluntarily.

Detection methods leverage modern technologies such as laser absorption spectroscopy, optical gas imaging, and sensors. In addition, several TEP participants incorporate aerial-based monitoring techniques, using drones and airplanes, as well as space-based techniques via satellites. Aerial-based monitoring technologies were used on more than 30 percent of sites surveyed.

In addition, TEP participants acknowledged that general operational information is also key to predict, prevent and report emissions accurately. These technological advancements were the subject of many TEP workshops in 2023, aimed at sharing expertise and helping reduce emissions on a global scale.

Replacement of Pneumatic Controllers

Converting natural gas-driven pneumatics to non-gas-driven alternatives is recognized as one of the best practices for reducing methane emissions, based on data collected since TEP’s launch in 2017. TEP participants have removed or replaced more than 180,000 gas-driven pneumatics. This is equivalent to the permanent reduction of 355,421 metric tonnes of CH4/year approximately.

In 2023, the Pneumatic Controller Program resulted in the installation of 6,700 new zero-emission pneumatic controllers and 45 companies no longer having high-bleed pneumatic controllers in their operations.

Bottom Line: The oil and natural gas industries continues to demonstrate its commitment to environmental protection and emissions reduction, as is evident in this latest Environmental Partnership report. As Hague explained:

“From advancements in detecting and measuring emissions to sharing operational solutions, I am proud of how our participating companies are continuing to raise the bar in our collective efforts to achieve meaningful emissions reductions.”

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