Continuous Measurement and OGMP 2.0
Introduction
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that has received increasing attention over recent years. Regulations around the world are emerging and strengthening to reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry (O&G). In parallel, a growing number of voluntary emissions reduction initiatives have arisen, including differentiated gas certification schemes, emissions reduction commitments and methodologies, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) ranking systems.
What is OGMP 2.0?
A recent report by Highwood Emissions Management details 20 different voluntary initiatives, including the recently announced Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0. The new measurement and reporting standard, announced in the European Union Methane Strategy in 2020, invites O&G companies to voluntarily improve quantity, quality, and transparency of methane emissions data.
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme, OGMP 2.0 requires that participating O&G companies progress along five levels towards a “Gold Standard” of methane management. To achieve the fifth and final level of OGMP 2.0, participating companies must develop custom, measurement-based emissions factors to inform bottom-up inventories. They must also use “top down” site-level measurements with technologies such as aircraft, drones, or continuous sensors, and must reconcile differences between bottom-up inventories and site-level measurements.
Who participates in OGMP 2.0?
To date, over 60 companies have joined the partnership, collectively representing 30% of the world’s oil and natural gas production. Notable signatories include BP, Eni, Equinor, Repsol, Shell, and Total. Abiding by the new guidelines may prove especially difficult for large, integrated energy companies with assets around the world due to the inclusion of non-operated joint ventures and the challenge of acquiring representative measurements.
What is the motivation behind OGMP 2.0?
In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in methane management activity and innovation in analytics and monitoring. Yet despite improvements in measurement performance and data, methane emissions from O&G remain poorly understood. Additionally, reporting of methane emissions has not been standardized, leading to difficulty in understanding baselines, tracking reductions, and benchmarking company performance. A big part of the problem is that despite rapid innovation, measurement technologies are largely underutilized.
How to achieve OGMP 2.0?
As companies in Europe and around the world move to adopt OGMP 2.0, it will become increasingly important to acquire reliable top-down measurements. In recent years, a growing number of companies are moving to adopt continuous measurement to better understand and disclose methane emissions.
Companies like Qube Technologies, who are focused on continuous methane measurement and analytics, are well positioned to deliver on OGMP 2.0 measurement and reporting requirements. With the ability to detect, localize, and quantify methane emissions at both equipment and facility scales, Qube’s Axon devices can autonomously generate the data needed to reach the Level 5 Gold Standard of OGMP 2.0.
Axon devices are particularly suited to OGMP 2.0 because they can be deployed across then entire value chain and can be useful in monitoring emissions from assets in remote areas. Most other existing top-down measurement methods lack global coverage (e.g., aircraft) or have not demonstrated adequate sensitivity for measuring typical emissions volumes (e.g., satellites). Qube offers easy deployment, doesn’t require specialized training, and can be shipped to anywhere in the world. As required by OGMP 2.0, Qube also measures methane emissions from all sources, including vented emissions, fugitive emissions, and incomplete combustion.
Continuous Measurement Beyond OGMP 2.0
OGMP 2.0 is only one of several reasons to adopt continuous methane measurement. In 2021, Qube Technologies received the world’s first and second regulatory approvals to replace traditional handheld leak detection and repair (LDAR) practices with continuous measurement. These novel LDAR programs are predicted to reduce fugitive emissions by up to 90% while offering cost savings to regulators and improved safety through reduced driving and site visits.
Continuous measurement will likely grow to be increasingly necessary to demonstrate strong emissions management performance. Data from continuous measurement can contribute to requirements of voluntary initiatives, generate data for regulatory reporting, establish company and site baselines, manage and mitigate risk, and improve ESG reporting. It may also be possible to offset the low costs of technologies like Qube’s Axon device with emissions mitigation incentives such as differentiated gas, future carbon markets, and government funding.
In a future with OGMP 2.0 and IMEO, energy companies will need to have their fingers on the pulse of methane emissions. Fortunately, continuous methane measurement is here to help.