By Rich Heidorn Jr.
Emissions of heat-trapping methane hit a new high in 2019, according to preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The agency reported globally averaged atmospheric methane levels hit 1,874.7 parts per billion in December 2019, an increase of almost 0.5% from a year earlier and the second-largest annual increase in the last 20 years. NOAA cautioned that its analysis was preliminary; final numbers are expected in November.
Methane is emitted by cows, sheep, microbes in wetlands, and oil and gas wells. While it remains in the atmosphere for only about a decade, much less than CO2, it absorbs much more energy than CO2. Thus, EPA says methane’s global warming potential (GWP) is about 30 times that of carbon dioxide.
After almost leveling off between 2000 and 2005, methane emissions have increased sharply since 2006, a period in which U.S. natural gas production has increased by more than 70%, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Methane emissions from the oil and gas sector totaled almost 80 million tons in 2017, 6% of global energy sector greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.
Because methane is valuable, IEA says almost half of the emissions from drilling could be captured at no net cost.
“Emissions remain high despite initial industry-led initiatives and government policies announced recently,” IEA said. “Implementing abatement options quickly and at scale remains a real challenge.”
ExxonMobil Field Trials
ExxonMobil announced last week it is conducting field trials of eight methane detection technologies, including satellite and aerial surveillance monitoring, at nearly 1,000 sites in Texas and New Mexico.
“The field tests are evaluating effectiveness and scalability of a range of next-generation detection technologies that, in addition to satellites, use drones, planes, helicopters, [and] ground-based mobile and fixed-position sensors. All technologies and deployment methods will be used to detect leaks and identify potential solutions that can be shared with other oil and gas operators,” the company said.
“We are already seeing the benefits of some of these technologies,” said Staale Gjervik, president of ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy. “Through the trials, we have discovered methane sources that would otherwise not have been detected as efficiently or quickly under the current methods prescribed by regulations. The company is committed to immediately investigating and fixing methane emissions that are detected during the trial.”
The company said it reduced emissions by almost 20% in its U.S. unconventional operations between 2016 and 2019. It has made a corporate-wide commitment to reduce methane emissions by 15% and reduce flaring by 25% by the end of 2020.
In March, ExxonMobil proposed a regulatory model for reducing emissions.
The Trump administration in 2018 reversed proposed regulations to reduce leaking, venting and flaring of methane at drill sites on federal and tribal land and a requirement that companies monitor and repair methane leaks.
Dry natural gas production grew by 10% to a record 92.2 Bcfd in 2019 but is expected to drop slightly in 2020 and 2021 because of low prices, EIA said last week in in its Short-Term Energy Outlook. The agency also said its forecasts are “subject to heightened levels of uncertainty” because the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on energy markets are “still evolving.” (See related story, EIA: Renewable Capacity to Grow in 2020.)
The economic shutdown caused by the pandemic could reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5% this year, according to the Global Carbon Project. It would be biggest reduction since the end of World War II.
