Calgary-based Enverus Intelligence Research released a report last week on U.S. emissions for the oil and gas sector to evaluate industry progress based on data from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Enverus analyzed trends in the upstream and gathering sections in 2020-22 – highlighting where operator efforts are paying off and which sources are more difficult to mitigate. The analysis also compares the top producing operators and identifies the main reasons behind the most notable step changes in emission intensity.
Ivana Petrich, senior associate at EIR, said March 6, “The upstream and gathering sectors successfully reduced venting and flaring emissions while still increasing production from 2020-22, leading to a 12 percent drop in emissions intensity across the lower 48. Operator performance varied, however, and we believe the next five years will prove critical for companies to address easier-to-abate emissions ahead of quickly changing regulations. Despite a 23 percent drop in reported methane emissions, we calculate that many plays would sill, on average, be exposed to the Inflation Reduction Act’s waste emissions change that came into effect Jan. 1 based on 2022 emissions.”