This week’s Highwood Bulletin features mind-boggling methane emissions from Turkmenistan, European methane rules for imported gas, the launch of ARCHIE, new EPA rules for power sector, a new report on methane variability among companies, new PHMSA rules, conferences, and careers. Highwood is hiring numerous positions – now’s your chance to join us!
“Mind Boggling” Methane Emissions from Turkmenistan
With the advent of methane detecting satellites, Turkmenistan, an isolated oil and gas producing country in Central Asia, has gained international attention for excessive methane emissions. In 2022, methane emissions from two fields alone exceeded all of United Kingdom’s greenhouse gas emissions from all sources. Read more here.
Europe Debates Methane Rules for Imports
Importing more than 80% of its natural gas, the European Union would accomplish very little by only regulated methane emissions from domestically produced gas. On May 9, the European Parliament voted to mandate methane rules on imported gas. Such rules could have huge implications for methane emissions in the Middle East, the United States, North Africa, and elsewhere. Read more here.
ARCHIE is Live
Aramco’s Archie Initiative has launched, providing carbon intensity data for 96 countries accounting for 92% of global oil production. The tool leverages the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE) model in an intuitive and free online user interface. Check it out here.
New EPA Rules Hit Power Sector
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released new regulations targeting greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector. Existing coal plants and natural gas power plants will be expected to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 90%. Other important rules have been announced by EPA in recent months and a succinct overview can be found here.
Report: Significant Methane Emissions Variability
A new report by Clean Air Task Force finds that there is significant variation in methane emissions among oil and natural gas producing companies. The report also finds that reported methane intensity has decline 28% between 2019 and 2021. Read more here.
DOE Funds METEC and Total Technology Protocol
In international protocol will be developed jointly by Colorado State University’s METEC facility and TotalEnergies Transverse Anomaly Detection Initiatives (TADI) to standardize how methane detection and quantification technology performance is evaluated. The effort will be funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy (DG-ENER). Read more here.
Blog: Proposed PHMSA Rules are Here
On May 4, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released a draft rule that would oil and gas companies to inspect certain types of pipelines more frequently and using leak detection instruments. The rule is > 350 pages, but we’ve summarized if for you in a blog post here.
Conference: Global Energy Show
Calgary’s Global Energy Show this year is not to be missed. Highwood Greenhouse Gas Scientist Dr. Chris Nixon will be presenting on new methane data collection guidance produced by Highwood and GTI Energy as part of the Veritas Initiative. Take a look at the abstract and register here.
Conference: World Petroleum Congress
The World Petroleum Congress, held every three years and often called ‘The Olympics’ of the petroleum industry, will be held this year in Calgary. It is the world’s largest and most prestigious O&G event. This year, emissions will be an important topic. Highwood’s President Thomas Fox will be presenting on recent research the company has performed on optimizing technology deployment and abatement strategies. Learn more and register here.
Want to Write for the Bulletin?
We’re always looking for guest writers who would like to contribute a Feature Article to the Highwood Bulletin. Please reach out if you’d like to write an unbiased, apolitical, solution-agnostic article for our ~2000 subscribers and ~5000 LinkedIn followers on an emissions management topic. Please reach out to [email protected] with your idea. Authors are fully credited and have a profile page on our website (we are happy to backlink).
Join our Team! Highwood is Hiring!
We currently have multiple exciting career postings on our website. In addition to those listed, Highwood is always looking for bright folks who want to help us change the world for the better. If you have experience in greenhouse gas emissions management and you’re looking for a career change, please reach out! Check out our active opportunities on our website by clicking here.
