Energy Tomorrow Blog
Positioned for Climate Action
climate change carbon capture emission reductions methane emissions
Mark Green
Posted March 25, 2021
API’s new Climate Action Framework is much more than a list of policies and actions to address the risks of climate change. It’s a values statement, the natural gas and oil industry’s commitment to lead on the twin necessities of cleaner energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
We can achieve both. The natural gas and oil industry details in this framework an action plan to get it done, working together with government and other stakeholders. As the plan states in its opening sentences, it’s the opportunity of our time.
The Common Ground of Emissions Reduction
emission reductions carbon dioxide emissions methane emissions the-environmental-partnership cera
Mark Green
Posted March 5, 2021
We don’t yet know the full extent of the Biden administration’s strategy for U.S. energy. As API President and CEO Mike Sommers has said repeatedly since the election, our industry is ready to work with the administration for a better economy, cleaner environment and progress toward climate goals. Based on remarks by former Secretary of State John Kerry at the CERAWeek conference, there’s important common ground for a cooperative relationship.
“I don’t object per se to fossil fuel," said the president's special envoy for climate. "I object to the byproduct of fossil fuel, which is the carbon. That’s the problem, and the methane, that's another major problem emerging. So, we have to be able to abate. It’s the debate between unabated and abated production.”
Common ground: The natural gas and oil industry also is for abating carbon emissions – and has been working to reduce carbon and capture methane, through innovation and technology, for some time.
Industry investment, innovation and problem-solving on emissions came up so often during CERAWeek, it was hard to track them all. If, as Kerry said, the administration sees carbon and methane emissions as the targets – and not the energy from natural gas and oil – industry not only is a willing partner, it’s one that’s tackling those challenges head on.
Academia and Industry Partner to Drive Down Methane Emissions
the-environmental-partnership methane emissions technology innovation
Lem Smith
Posted October 27, 2020
With a high-tech workforce and a future-focused approach, America’s natural gas and oil industry is delivering on its commitment to sustainability and climate solutions. Energy operators are continuously improving environmental performance and working to lower greenhouse gas emissions – and groundbreaking technologies are making the difference.
API member companies are driving research and development on innovative concepts, like carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), and industry leaders are collaborating to address emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds in America’s largest energy producing regions.
Since 2017, The Environmental Partnership has provided leadership on industry-driven efforts to tackle the dual challenges of supplying affordable, reliable energy while making significant environmental progress. The program encourages the phase out of high-bleed, gas-driven pneumatic controller use to mitigate methane emissions in natural gas production.
Texas Flaring Coalition Enhances Industry’s Commitment to Reduce Emissions
methane emissions natural gas production the-environmental-partnership texas
Mark Green
Posted April 3, 2020
The natural gas and oil industry’s commitment to accelerate the reduction of methane emissions is being advanced on a number of fronts. The Environmental Partnership, whose 75 members include 33 of the top 40 U.S. producers of natural gas, is in its third year of sharing of knowledge and technologies to further reduce emissions. This week, the Texas Methane & Flaring Coalition, whose members represent nearly 80% of oil production in the state, was launched to work on flaring.
The coalition’s key initiatives include: developing best practices and opportunities to minimize methane emissions and flaring, improving accuracy and consistency in the reporting of vented and flared volumes and increasing public understanding of the safety and environmental reasons for flaring.
Flaring, Infrastructure and Embracing the Dual Challenge
natural gas methane emissions emission reductions climate safe operations
Mark Green
Posted August 8, 2019
Certainly, our industry is focused on new innovations and technologies that continue to reduce emissions from natural gas and oil production and improve the environmental performance of our operations and facilities. …
The objective is continued progress. High-production areas, including the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico and the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana, need additional pipeline infrastructure to take away natural gas when it accompanies oil production. More infrastructure could reduce the amount of flaring – regulated, limited burning of methane – that takes place.
Reducing Methane Emissions as a Core Industry Value
methane emissions world-gas-conference
Mark Green
Posted June 28, 2018
When one speaker at the World Gas Conference talked about methane emissions from natural gas as the “elephant in the room” that industry isn’t talking about – I didn’t know what they were talking about! Everywhere at WGC2018, people are talking about reducing methane emissions.
That’s because natural gas and oil companies have been reducing emissions and are focused on continuing that progress in the future. No one is more focused on capturing methane – the key component in natural gas – than companies that sell natural gas.
100 Days: Industry is Committed to Environmental Protection
100-days air pollutants carbon capture environmental impact methane emissions natural gas ozone
Mark Green
Posted April 24, 2017
Methane Regulations Not Based on Science
methane emissions oil and natural gas production hydraulic fracturing carbon dioxide regulation
Jack Gerard
Posted March 30, 2016
Methane emissions have dropped significantly. Since 2005, emissions from field production of natural gas have dropped 38 percent, and emissions from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells have plunged 79 percent.
These facts bear repeating in light of the Obama administration’s announcement that it is pursuing yet another set of methane regulations. Not only are the additional regulations duplicative and unnecessary, given industry’s success in reducing emissions under current regulations, but the new rules could actually undermine progress.
EPA Should Recognize Market-Driven Climate Progress
natural gas epa regulation co2 emissions methane emissions climate
Jack Gerard
Posted January 13, 2016
Absent from EPA’s plans was any acknowledgement that methane and carbon emissions are already down. Recognizing progress we’ve already made – and the market factors contributing to that success – is critical to avoiding costly, duplicative regulations that could undermine that progress, as well as economic growth.
Leading on Reducing Methane Emissions
analysis methane emissions epa american petroleum institute regulation
Mark Green
Posted July 24, 2015
Some thoughts on EPA’s proposed program to encourage voluntary methane emissions reductions from existing sources. The Methane Challenge Program would expand on the Natural Gas STAR program by recognizing companies that make specific emissions reduction commitments and agree to submit annual data on the progress they’re making.
First, industry supports voluntary. The program could be supportive of what industry already is doing to reduce methane emissions – an effort that is working. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report issued this spring showed methane emissions from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells are down 79 percent since 2005 – a period in which natural gas production has soared.