Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus
Sat, January 29, 2022,
Thirty “super-emitting” oil and gas facilities were responsible for up to 100,000 metric tons of air pollution in the Permian Basin across southeast New Mexico and West Texas, per a recent study from the Energy Defense Fund (EDF).
The study was conducted between 2019 and 2021 by the EDF and nonprofit Carbon Mapper using aircraft surveys that tracked methane emissions from fossil fuel production sites throughout the region.
The 30 sites identified as having the highest emissions included well pads and pipelines, along with gas compressor and processing facilities.
More: Funds to plug abandoned oil wells headed to to New Mexico via Biden's infrastructure bill
The sites allegedly leaked methane and other air pollutants into the atmosphere, and fixing those leaks, per the study, would remove 100,000 metric tons of methane from the air per year, saving $26 million annually in wasted resources.
While that’s as much pollution as about half a million cars or trucks, the study found the 30 facilities made up less than 0.01 percent of the region’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Riley Duren, chief executive officer of Carbon Mapper and a research scientist at the University of Arizona, said fixing the leaks and curbing pollution was essential to mitigating the environmental and public safety risks of climate change.
More: Oil and gas expansions planned in Permian Basin as production forecast to rise this year
“In this decisive decade for reducing greenhouse gas emissions every molecule matters, and the fact that some facilities are persistently leaking methane for years without detection or repair highlights the urgent need for comprehensive and transparent methane monitoring,” Duren said.
“The magnitude of emissions coming from a handful of methane sources in one of the top oil- and gas-producing regions illustrates the opportunity to make significant near-term progress toward the stated methane reduction goals of the U.S., other countries, and companies around the world.”
In total, the study found about 1,100 facilities throughout the basin that contributed to about half of its total methane emissions.
More: Oil and gas mergers continue in 2022, focused on increased profits in the Permian Basin
The sources of these emissions could be hard to detect, scientists warned, as they tend to release large amounts of pollutants in short amounts of time.
David Lyon, senior scientist with the EDF said this means constant monitoring of the sites was needed to be able to tell exactly when and where a leak occurs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) each plan to up such requirements imposed on operating with both the federal and state agencies in the midst of their own rulemakings.
More: Eddy County collects $5.5M in November oil and gas taxes, expects summer surplus
The EPA began to develop new regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from not only new, but also existing sources and NMED hoped to finalize its rules this spring that would increase monitoring of air pollution and the release of ground-level ozone precursors like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is parts of the state in exceedance of federal air quality standards.
Last year, the State’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) enacted its own rules to require oil and gas operators capture 98 percent of produced gas by 2026.
“It takes a combination of ground-based inspections and frequent advanced screening, such as aerial monitoring, to effectively find and fix these recurring sources of methane emissions,” Lyon said. “
We know methane can be emitted across a wide range of infrastructure and can be cost-effectively reduced with a combination of strong regulations and available technologies.”
More: New Mexico's oil and gas regulators seek more funds from lawmakers to fight pollution
Oil and gas industry seeks to reduce pollution in response to concerns
As research such as the EDF’s and public policy shift toward stricter pollution controls, investors in the oil and gas sector called on companies to lower their environmental impacts and take action on climate change.
In response, one of the world’s largest energy companies ExxonMobil announced in January it planned to cut its emissions completely by 2050.
The company-wide plan followed a previous announcement by the fossil fuel giant that it would cut all emissions in the Permian Basin by 2030, focusing on developing “lower-emission solutions” like carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and biofuels, per a news release.
More: New Mexico to seek federal funds for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells
Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said the company’s efforts were intended to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Permian Basin and around the world.
“We are developing comprehensive roadmaps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operated assets around the world, and where we are not the operator, we are working with our partners to achieve similar emission-reduction results,” Woods said.
In addition to its own commitments, ExxonMobil officials also voiced support for emission reduction policy like a price on carbon which would create market incentives to reduce pollution, along with investing in low-emission technology.
More: Permian Basin solar farm green-lit by State of New Mexico. Will power oil and gas operations
“As we invest in these important technologies, we will advocate for well-designed, high-impact policies that can accelerate the deployment of market-based, cost-effective solutions,” Woods said. “We will create shareholder value by adjusting investments between our existing low-cost portfolio and new lower-emission business opportunities to match the pace of the energy transition.”
As some of the largest energy companies in the world voice support for reducing emissions, operators on the ground also deployed new technologies hoped to reduce the impacts of fossil fuel production.
Evolution Well Services this month announced it contracted with Permian Basin operators to employ electric hydraulic fracturing equipment by the end of 2022, powered by natural gas rather than the traditional diesel engines.
More: Oil and gas leads record $141.8 million in revenue for New Mexico Land Office last month
Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is the process of pumping a combination of water, sand and chemicals underground to break up rock formations and extract crude oil and natural gas.
The technology will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions when completing Permian Basin wells, read a news release from the company, and increase safety by reducing the physical footprint of operation by 50 percent.
“We look forward to providing high-efficiency, lower carbon, and safe Simul-frac operations for our new partners in the Permian Basin,” said Steven Anderson, chief executive officer.
Adrian Hedden achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Study: Permian Basin 'super emitters' identified in aerial study
Sat, January 29, 2022,
Thirty “super-emitting” oil and gas facilities were responsible for up to 100,000 metric tons of air pollution in the Permian Basin across southeast New Mexico and West Texas, per a recent study from the Energy Defense Fund (EDF).
The study was conducted between 2019 and 2021 by the EDF and nonprofit Carbon Mapper using aircraft surveys that tracked methane emissions from fossil fuel production sites throughout the region.
The 30 sites identified as having the highest emissions included well pads and pipelines, along with gas compressor and processing facilities.
More: Funds to plug abandoned oil wells headed to to New Mexico via Biden's infrastructure bill
The sites allegedly leaked methane and other air pollutants into the atmosphere, and fixing those leaks, per the study, would remove 100,000 metric tons of methane from the air per year, saving $26 million annually in wasted resources.
While that’s as much pollution as about half a million cars or trucks, the study found the 30 facilities made up less than 0.01 percent of the region’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Riley Duren, chief executive officer of Carbon Mapper and a research scientist at the University of Arizona, said fixing the leaks and curbing pollution was essential to mitigating the environmental and public safety risks of climate change.
More: Oil and gas expansions planned in Permian Basin as production forecast to rise this year
“In this decisive decade for reducing greenhouse gas emissions every molecule matters, and the fact that some facilities are persistently leaking methane for years without detection or repair highlights the urgent need for comprehensive and transparent methane monitoring,” Duren said.
“The magnitude of emissions coming from a handful of methane sources in one of the top oil- and gas-producing regions illustrates the opportunity to make significant near-term progress toward the stated methane reduction goals of the U.S., other countries, and companies around the world.”
In total, the study found about 1,100 facilities throughout the basin that contributed to about half of its total methane emissions.
More: Oil and gas mergers continue in 2022, focused on increased profits in the Permian Basin
The sources of these emissions could be hard to detect, scientists warned, as they tend to release large amounts of pollutants in short amounts of time.
David Lyon, senior scientist with the EDF said this means constant monitoring of the sites was needed to be able to tell exactly when and where a leak occurs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) each plan to up such requirements imposed on operating with both the federal and state agencies in the midst of their own rulemakings.
More: Eddy County collects $5.5M in November oil and gas taxes, expects summer surplus
The EPA began to develop new regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from not only new, but also existing sources and NMED hoped to finalize its rules this spring that would increase monitoring of air pollution and the release of ground-level ozone precursors like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is parts of the state in exceedance of federal air quality standards.
Last year, the State’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) enacted its own rules to require oil and gas operators capture 98 percent of produced gas by 2026.
“It takes a combination of ground-based inspections and frequent advanced screening, such as aerial monitoring, to effectively find and fix these recurring sources of methane emissions,” Lyon said. “
We know methane can be emitted across a wide range of infrastructure and can be cost-effectively reduced with a combination of strong regulations and available technologies.”
More: New Mexico's oil and gas regulators seek more funds from lawmakers to fight pollution
Oil and gas industry seeks to reduce pollution in response to concerns
As research such as the EDF’s and public policy shift toward stricter pollution controls, investors in the oil and gas sector called on companies to lower their environmental impacts and take action on climate change.
In response, one of the world’s largest energy companies ExxonMobil announced in January it planned to cut its emissions completely by 2050.
The company-wide plan followed a previous announcement by the fossil fuel giant that it would cut all emissions in the Permian Basin by 2030, focusing on developing “lower-emission solutions” like carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and biofuels, per a news release.
More: New Mexico to seek federal funds for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells
Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said the company’s efforts were intended to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Permian Basin and around the world.
“We are developing comprehensive roadmaps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operated assets around the world, and where we are not the operator, we are working with our partners to achieve similar emission-reduction results,” Woods said.
In addition to its own commitments, ExxonMobil officials also voiced support for emission reduction policy like a price on carbon which would create market incentives to reduce pollution, along with investing in low-emission technology.
More: Permian Basin solar farm green-lit by State of New Mexico. Will power oil and gas operations
“As we invest in these important technologies, we will advocate for well-designed, high-impact policies that can accelerate the deployment of market-based, cost-effective solutions,” Woods said. “We will create shareholder value by adjusting investments between our existing low-cost portfolio and new lower-emission business opportunities to match the pace of the energy transition.”
As some of the largest energy companies in the world voice support for reducing emissions, operators on the ground also deployed new technologies hoped to reduce the impacts of fossil fuel production.
Evolution Well Services this month announced it contracted with Permian Basin operators to employ electric hydraulic fracturing equipment by the end of 2022, powered by natural gas rather than the traditional diesel engines.
More: Oil and gas leads record $141.8 million in revenue for New Mexico Land Office last month
Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is the process of pumping a combination of water, sand and chemicals underground to break up rock formations and extract crude oil and natural gas.
The technology will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions when completing Permian Basin wells, read a news release from the company, and increase safety by reducing the physical footprint of operation by 50 percent.
“We look forward to providing high-efficiency, lower carbon, and safe Simul-frac operations for our new partners in the Permian Basin,” said Steven Anderson, chief executive officer.
Adrian Hedden achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Study: Permian Basin 'super emitters' identified in aerial study
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