Effectiveness of Leak Detection and Repair Programs in Reducing Fugitive Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities - A Large-Scale, Randomized, Field Study in Alberta, Canada

The oil and gas industry is the largest methane emitter in Canada, contributing to 44% of the total methane emissions. In 2018, Environment and Climate Change Canada proposed new regulations aiming to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40-45%. These include periodic leak detection and repair (LDAR) surveys using optical gas imaging (OGI) systems to mitigate fugitive emissions or leaks. Despite recent advances in methane emissions measurements, the effectiveness of LDAR programs in reducing emissions has not been experimentally determined on large populations.

Here, we report initial results from the Fugitive Emissions Management Program Effectiveness Assessment (FEMP-EA) project - a fully randomized study of OGI-based bottom-up emissions measurements from ~200 oil and gas producing sites in Alberta, Canada.

Emissions were measured at the component level using both a Bacharach Hi-Flow Sampler and Providence Photonics' Quantitative OGI (QOGI), whenever possible, to calibrate QOGI data. We then use the QOGI data to quantify emissions that are not directly measured by the Hi-Flow sampler due to access or safety considerations. At the component level, the top 5% emitters contribute to 67% of the total emissions, confirming the heavy-tailed distributions observed in other studies. We find that leaks and vents contribute to 26% and 74% of total emissions, respectively. Tank-related emissions contribute to 27% of total emissions at an average rate of 20 CH₄ kg/day. Furthermore, analysis at site level shows that the average emission rate of oil sites and gas sites are 60 CH₄ kg/day and 39 CH₄ kg/day, respectively. We will also present insights on company-level differences in methane emissions. The results from this study can be used in developing cost-effective methane mitigation policies by taking advantages of the underlying differences in emissions across site types, operators, and production levels.