ALBERT

Description: Oil and gas well leakage is of public concern primarily due to the perceived risks of aquifer contamination and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study examined well leakage data from the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission (BC OGC) to identify leakage pathways and initially quantify incident rates of leakage and GHG emissions from leaking wells. Three types of leakage are distinguished: “surface casing vent flow” (SCVF), “outside the surface casing leakage” (OSCL), and “cap leakage” (CL). In British Columbia (BC), the majority of reported incidents involve SCVF of gases, which does not pose a risk of aquifer contamination but does contribute to GHG emissions. Reported liquid leakage of brines and hydrocarbons is rarer. OSCL and CL of gas are more serious problems due to the risk of long-term leakage from abandoned wells; some were reported to be leaking gas several decades after they were permanently abandoned. According to the requirements of provincial regulation, 21,525 have been tested for leakage. In total, 2,329 wells in BC have had reported leakage during the lifetime of the well. This represents 10.8% of all wells in the assumed test population. However, it seems likely that wells drilled and/or abandoned before 2010 have unreported leakage. In BC, the total GHG emission from gas SCVF is estimated to reach about 75,000 t/y based on the existing inventory calculation; however, this number is likely higher due to underreporting.

Description: North American leaders recently committed to reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, but information on current emissions from upstream oil and gas developments in Canada are lacking. This study examined the occurrence of methane plumes in an area of unconventional natural gas development in northwestern Canada. In August to September 2015 we completed almost 8000 km of vehicle-based survey campaigns on public roads dissecting oil and gas infrastructure, such as well pads and processing facilities. We surveyed six routes 3–6 times each, which brought us past over 1600 unique well pads and facilities managed by more than 50 different operators. To attribute on-road plumes to oil- and gas-related sources we used gas signatures of residual excess concentrations (anomalies above background) less than 500 m downwind from potential oil and gas emission sources. All results represent emissions greater than our minimum detection limit of 0.59 g s−1 at our average detection distance (319 m). Unlike many other oil and gas developments in the US for which methane measurements have been reported recently, the methane concentrations we measured were close to normal atmospheric levels, except inside natural gas plumes. Roughly 47 % of active wells emitted methane-rich plumes above our minimum detection limit. Multiple sites that pre-date the recent unconventional natural gas development were found to be emitting, and we observed that the majority of these older wells were associated with emissions on all survey repeats. We also observed emissions from gas processing facilities that were highly repeatable. Emission patterns in this area were best explained by infrastructure age and type. Extrapolating our results across all oil and gas infrastructure in the Montney area, we estimate that the emission sources we located (emitting at a rate 〉 0.59 g s−1) contribute more than 111 800 t of methane annually to the atmosphere. This value exceeds reported bottom-up estimates of 78 000 t of methane for all oil and gas sector sources in British Columbia. Current bottom-up methods for estimating methane emissions do not normally calculate the fraction of emitting oil and gas infrastructure with thorough on-ground measurements. However, this study demonstrates that mobile surveys could provide a more accurate representation of the number of emission sources in an oil and gas development. This study presents the first mobile collection of methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure in British Columbia, and these results can be used to inform policy development in an era of methane emission reduction efforts.

Description: North American leaders recently committed to reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, but information on current emissions from Canadian unconventional developments is lacking. This study examined the incidence of methane in an area of unconventional natural gas development in northwestern Canada. In August to September 2015 we completed almost 8000 km of vehicle-based survey campaigns on public roads dissecting developments that mainly access the Montney formation in northeastern British Columbia. Six survey routes were repeated 3–6 times and brought us past over 1600 unique well pads and facilities developed by more than 50 different operators. To attribute on-road plumes to infrastructural sources we used gas signatures of residual excess concentrations (anomalies above background) less than 500 m downwind from infrastructural sources. All results represent emissions greater than our minimum detection limit of 0.59 g/s at our average detection distance (319 m). Unlike many other developments in the US for which methane measurements have been reported recently, the methane concentrations we measured at surface were close to normal atmospheric levels, except inside natural gas plumes. Roughly 47 % of active wells emitted methane-rich plumes above our minimum detection limit. Abandoned and under-development well sites also emitted methane-rich plumes, but the incidence rate was below that of producing wells. Multiple sites that pre-date the recent unconventional Montney development were found to be emitting, and in general we observed that older infrastructure tended to emit more often (per unit) with comparable severity in terms of measured excess concentrations on-road. We also observed emissions from facilities of various types that were highly repeatable. Emission patterns in this area were best explained by infrastructure age and type. Extrapolating our results across the Montney development, we estimate that the emission sources we located (emitting at a rate 〉 0.59 g/s) contribute more than 111,800 tonnes of methane annually to the atmosphere. This value exceeds reported bottom-up estimates of 78,000 tonnes for all oil and gas sector sources in British Columbia, of which the Montney represents about 55 % of production. The results also demonstrate that mobile surveys could be used to exhaustively screen developments for super-emitters, because without our intensive 6-fold replication we could have used single-pass sampling to screen 80 % of Montney-related infrastructure. This is the first bottom-up study of fugitive emissions in the Canadian energy sector, and these results can be used to inform policy development in an era of methane emission reduction efforts.