Global efforts to clear the air and improve the environment have been embraced by Permian Basin oil and gas producers in recent years.
Most recently, the World Bank has launched its Zero Routine Flaring by 2030, an initiative, designed to bring together a broad consortium of governments, oil companies and development institutions to cooperate in eliminating routine flaring by 2030.
Occidental Petroleum last week became the first U.S. oil and gas company to endorse the initiative.
“It’s an honor to be the first U.S. oil and gas company to endorse the World Bank’s initiative to reduce routine flaring globally, as we amplify our commitment to eliminate routine flaring in our operations by 2030,” Vicki Hollub, Occidental president and chief executive officer, said in a statement provided to the Reporter-Telegram. “Support for this important World Bank program is part of our company’s broader commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our global operations and positions Occidental for success in a low-carbon economy.”
Texans for Natural Gas believes the program is part of a broader industry commitment to reduce flaring.
“Programs like this affirm that flaring and methane emissions are being taken seriously in the Permian Basin,” said Elizabeth Caldwell, Texans for Natural Gas spokeswoman, in an email to the Reporter-Telegram. “As our recent analysis shows, data from the World Bank and other agencies demonstrate that the efforts being made to tackle this issue have resulted in significant reductions in both flaring intensity and methane emissions intensity. In the seven-year period between 2011 and 2018, Permian Basin operators reduced methane emissions intensity by nearly 64 percent.”
Caldwell was citing a December 2019 report from the organization, Permian Basin Petroleum Association and the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association that not only show Permian Basin operators reduced methane emissions by nearly 64 percent during the past seven years but, if the region were its own country, it would rank 45th in flaring intensity, according to World Bank data. The organization’s report also said that the Permian Basin remains the world’s top-producing oilfield and is currently the fourth-largest oil- and gas-producing area in the world. Since 2011, the report said, oil production in the Permian Basin has risen by more than 210 percent.
The national industry association, American Petroleum Institute, said the challenge of meeting growing energy demand, while addressing the risks of climate change, call for many different approaches.
“Policies that support expanding energy infrastructure, including pipelines, tanks and terminals, are the best ways to reduce flaring and meet rising demand for cleaner fuels. API launched The Environmental Partnership two years ago to share and design new methods for reducing methane emissions in energy production and promote collaborative efforts to further improve environmental performance across our industry. As more natural gas is used in power generation, it is helping to drive US CO2 emissions to their lowest levels in a generation, as shown by the latest IEA report,” Reid Porter, API spokesman, told the Reporter-Telegram by email.
In announcing the initiative, the World Bank said that during oil production, associated gas is produced from the reservoir along with the oil. While much of that gas is utilized or conserved because governments and oil companies have made substantial investments in capturing it, the World Bank said, some is flared because of technical, regulatory or economic constraints.
“As a result, thousands of gas flares at oil production sites around the globe burn approximately 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, causing more than 300 million tons of CO2 to be emitted to the atmosphere,” the bank said.
The initiative pertains to routine flaring, which is done during normal oil production operations in the absence of infrastructure to allow the produced gas to be used or sent to market, or geology that would allow reinjection of the produced gas. It does not pertain to flaring done for safety reasons or non-routine flaring, which nevertheless should be minimized, the bank said.
If that 140 billion cubic meters of gas were to be used for power generation, it could provide about 750 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, more than the African continent consumes annually.
In endorsing the initiative, governments agree to provide legal, regulatory, investment and operating environments to promote upstream investment in and viable markets for utilizing the associated gas and the infrastructure to move that gas.
Oil companies agree to create plans for using or conserving associated gas as they develop new fields. If they already routine flare gas at existing fields, they agree to implement economically viable solutions to end flaring as soon as possible and no later than 2030.
Both governments and oil companies also agree to publicly report their flaring and progress towards meeting the initiative’s goals annually.
The World Bank is also sponsoring the Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership, which includes Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron and others.
Read it from MRT – Photo as posted on MRT ( JONAH M. KESSEL/NYT – A gas flare is seen at Targa’s Driver Gas Plant in Midland County. Occidental Petroleum is the first U.S. oil company to endorse the effort of World Bank, which is gathering commitments for its Zero Routing Flaring by 2030 initiative. )
