The Environmental Partnership Points Toward More Successes in Year Ahead

Mark Green
Posted December 5, 2019

This week The Environmental Partnership marks two years of progress in further reducing emissions by 69 participating natural gas and oil companies, working together to improve their environmental performance.

Let’s take a look at what the participants – who represent 32 of the top 40 natural gas producers – have achieved:

• Rapid Participation Growth – Since The Partnership was launched in December 2017, the number of participating companies has nearly tripled, extending The Partnership’s leadership in protecting the environment and reducing emissions. Members have been active in 18 of the nation’s 21 top natural gas and oil-producing states:

• On-Site Inspections – In 2018 alone, participants conducted more than 156,000 surveys across nearly 80,000 production sites, inspecting more than 56 million components.  
• Follow-up Action – On-site inspections found that only 0.16% of participant components needed repair – 10 times lower than EPA’s estimated 1.4% – and 99% were resolved within 60 days.
• Shared Technology and Innovation – Participants conducted conferences and workshops to share knowledge and field experiences. Discussions included the latest research and technological developments. Regulators, academics and tech developers were among attendees.

The Partnership’s focus is building on and accelerating industry’s record of successfully improving operations and technologies, which has seen methane emissions from the industry fall 14% since 1990 – even as production surged by 50%. Indeed, a study last year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that from 2006-2015, there was no significant increase in total U.S. methane emissions despite a 46% increase in U.S. natural gas production. During this same period, NOAA says there was only a modest increase in emissions from natural gas and oil activity. Given dramatic production increases, the emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of production, has declined significantly.

The Environmental Partnership and other industry initiatives are playing an important role as industry remains focused on supplying the natural gas and oil our country needs for economic growth and security, while also continuing to reduce emissions associated with production. Matthew Todd, The Environmental Partnership’s program director:

“The rapid growth of The Environmental Partnership in its first two years demonstrates the commitment of the U.S. natural gas and oil industry to delivering solutions that lower emissions while meeting society’s growing energy needs. The collective actions of the industry in The Environmental Partnership have already proven effective in reducing emissions, and we are proud of the achievements of this growing coalition.”