U.S. oil and gas industry continues to reduce methane emissions, reports show

The U.S. oil and natural gas industry is continuing to reduce methane emissions and improve environmental performance.

Progress has been made by members of the Environmental Partnership, which includes 100 companies that represent nearly 70% of U.S. onshore oil and natural gas production.

Partnership participants “believe that addressing environmental impacts is an important component of securing America’s long-term energy future,” the group says. They are committed to finding solutions “that are technically feasible, commercially proven and will result in significant emissions reductions.” Through its network, participants are sharing information, analyzing best practices and devising technological breakthroughs “in order to help improve our understanding of emissions and how best to reduce them,” it says.

Last year, partnership participants achieved 6.6% in reduced flare intensity and a 10% reduction in total flare volumes from the previous year, according to a new partnership report. This is after the industry reduced methane emissions by 37% across U.S. onshore production regions between 2015 and 2022, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.

Through new technological advancements and monitoring strategies, partnership participants have been able to improve detection and prevention of emissions. By implementing robust leak detection and repair programs, companies reduced their leak occurrence rate from a reported 0.16% in 2018 to 0.06% in 2023, or less than one component leaking in 1,000, according to the report.

Since 2018, they have also removed or replaced more than 180,000 gas-driven pneumatics, resulting in the permanent reduction of an estimated 355,421 metric tonnes of methane emissions per year released into the atmosphere, according to the EPA’s mandatory emissions reporting requirements that were in place in 2023.

They’ve also improved their monitoring, quantification, reporting and verification of emissions process, including using satellites, aerial sensors and ground sensors.

“In 2023, more than 60% of reported monitoring surveys were conducted voluntarily and aerial-based monitoring technologies were used on over 30% of sites surveyed. 45% of TEP members reported that they are incorporating continuous-monitoring technologies within portions of their operations,” the report states.

“As emissions detection technologies have evolved rapidly over the last couple of years, participating in The Partnership has provided Diamondback with a forum to discuss and share our continuous monitoring efforts,” Trevor Gleisner, a supervisor at Diamondback Energy, said. “Engagement with our peers about the technologies and tools they are using to drive down emissions continues to help inform our own efforts to monitor and mitigate emissions from our operations.”

Other participants have also described the benefits of eight environmental performance programs that have enabled them to minimize emissions throughout the process of production, processing and transmission. The programs include pneumatic controller, manual liquids unloading, leak detection/repair, compressor, pipeline blowdown, flare management, maintenance and integrity and energy efficiencies in operations.

Since 2019, Environmental Partnership members “have reduced their reported flare volumes by more than 75%, even as oil and natural gas production has increased,” the report notes.

Production increases are largely due to the Texas oil and natural gas industry, which leads the nation in industry job creation, energy production, production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), refinery activity and liquified natural gas (LNG) exports.

Month after month, Texas’ production of oil and natural gas is unparalleled. No other state is producing the volume that Texas is, The Center Square has reported, with records again being set in July.

This is after Texas’ petroleum products exports exceeded 4 million barrels per day for the first time in history last December.

An estimated 40% of the partnership members are members of the Texas Oil & Gas Association that operate in the upstream and midstream sectors.

The Texas oil and natural gas industry generates over 43% of the electricity in the U.S. and 51% in Texas, according to 2023 data from the Energy Information Administration.

“The Environmental Partnership’s member companies have proven, once again, that collaboration, innovation and commitment to a shared goal of reducing emissions are achieving meaningful and lasting environmental results,” TXOGA president Todd Staples said. “Through the Partnership as well as other industry-led collaborative efforts such as the Texas Methane & Flaring Commission and the Texas Seismicity & Water Partnership, the Texas oil and natural gas industry is protecting and improving the environment.”