Louisiana Looks At Uses For Wasted Methane From Drill Site Leaks

By Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator

April 7, 2023

9:00
News Story

• Environment
• Oil + Gas

Louisiana looks at uses for wasted methane from drill site leaks

By: Wesley Muller - April 7, 2023 9:00 am

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Last June, a team of Spanish scientists from the Polytechnic University of Valencia used a European Space Agency satellite to uncover a huge methane leak at an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the published findings, the rig released 40,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere over a 17-day “ultra-emission event” in December 2021.

That one-time incident, the result of an abnormal flaring process, emitted the equivalent of 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide or roughly 3% of Mexico’s total yearly carbon dioxide emissions. The owner of the rig, Mexican government-run Pemex, disputed the findings, telling the Associated Press the amount of methane released was only 2,224 tons. The AP report noted that would still be a large amount for a single emissions event.

At any rate, similar large methane leaks known as “super-emitter events” are being found across the world thanks to satellite and imaging equipment that either didn’t exist or was difficult to access a decade ago. Satellites detected more than 500 last year, according to the International Energy Agency. That has prompted some researchers to tweak their climate modeling calculations and reconsider the value of natural gas as a climate solution.

The LSU Energy Law Center hosted a panel of climate and energy industry experts Wednesday who discussed the latest technologies and solutions to address methane leaks.

Methane is found at virtually every oil well because it’s a natural byproduct of oil exploration. However, much of it is wasted.

Compared with carbon dioxide, methane causes much more harm to the atmosphere in the short term. It traps over 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and is responsible for more than 25% of the atmospheric warming the Earth is experiencing today, according to the United Nations.

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Panel member Audrey Mascarenhas, a chemical engineer who spent 35 years in the oil industry before starting her own company, Questor Technology, said many oil companies won’t produce and sell the gas either because it’s not economical or they don’t have the capital to invest in gas pipelines and equipment. Instead, they just waste the gas through venting and flaring, Mascarenhas said.

Around 260 billion cubic meters of methane is currently lost to the atmosphere each year from oil and gas operations. According to the International Energy Agency, three-quarters of this could be retained and brought to market using existing technologies. The captured methane would amount to more than the European Union’s total annual gas imports from Russia prior to the invasion of Ukraine.

Growing body of research suggests offshore oil’s methane pollution is underestimated

In 2019 in Louisiana, oil and gas operators reported 5.1 billion cubic feet of methane wasted through venting and flaring, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. On a rough scale, that’s enough to provide electricity to about 121,000 homes for an entire year.

It’s unclear how much more is wasted through leaky valves, poorly sealed pipe threads and orphaned wells, but researchers have found numerous methane plumes bubbling up from offshore rigs. Methane is colorless and odorless, requiring detection through expensive infrared imaging equipment or satellites.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has proposed a new regulation that would prohibit routine venting and flaring of methane from production facilities.

Isaac Brown, executive director of the Center for Methane Emissions Solutions, said such regulations have created new jobs in the energy sector.

Danny Johns, an environmental manager for ExxonMobil, said his company has staff constantly searching for methane leaks.

If the regulations are flexible enough, Brown said, they can spark the formation of companies that can provide infrared inspection services. So while a company the size of ExxonMobil can afford to purchase a $100,000 infrared camera, smaller oil companies can hire an inspection company for a few hundred dollars, he said.

Mascarenhas’ Questor Technology offers patented equipment that converts methane to carbon dioxide.

It might sound counterintuitive at first, but converting the methane into carbon dioxide is better than allowing the more harmful methane to escape, she said. The carbon dioxide can also be captured if the goal is zero emissions.

“What governs how people use our technology is what the rules say,” Mascarenhas said, referring to environmental regulations. “Companies will always do the bare minimum.”

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