Access to Monitoring Data Reduces Methane Emissions at Operational Oil and Gas Facilities

Methane emissions from the oil and gas supply chains pose a mitigation opportunity. Studies have assessed methane emission measurement systems but have not quantified the effect on methane emissions of oil and gas operator access to methane emission data. In this study, methane emissions were measured with and without operator access to real-time methane emission data (“data-on” and “data-off”) and fugitive emission alerts (“alert-on” and “alert-off”). In two U.S. producing basins, 46 wellsite, processing, and production facilities were monitored for 10 months. In Basin 1, average emission rates decreased nonsignificantly by 7% after alerts were turned on (data-on/alert-off to data-on/alert-on mode). In Basin 2, emissions decreased by 39% after alerts were turned on (at the transition from data-on/alert-off to data-on/alert-on). When both data and alerts were turned off for the operator (data-on/alert-on to data-off/alert-off), emissions were reversed, increasing by 85%. Wellsites emitted disproportionately more than facilities. Basin 1 sites exhibited a more coherent site design than Basin 2. These findings suggest that operator access to continuous methane monitoring data and site-specific alerts at oil and gas production sites may correlate with reduced methane emissions, particularly for assets with heterogeneous equipment vintages and design. Longer periods of study will help to solidify these findings.