Click the link to read the article on The Land Desk website (Jonathan P. Thompson):
A bunch of world leaders, a handful of activists and oodles of fossil fuel lobbyists are convened in the United Arab Emirates for the annual United Nations climate conference, or COP28. They’re doing a lot of talking about climate, but are they doing any doing to solve the climate crisis? Not a lot, but they did do some talking about doing.
The Biden administration used the occasion to announce that it has finalized a rule aimed at slashing emissions of methane and other harmful pollutants from new and existing oil and gas wells, including low-producing or stripper wells. While it’s not the fossil fuel phaseout advocates may be hoping for, it is meaningful action that will protect the climate and the people who live in and near the nation’s oil and gas fields.
Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas and is a potent greenhouse gas, having about 86 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over the near-term (methane in the atmosphere breaks down into carbon dioxide and water over the long-term). Methane naturally occurs in coal seams and in oil and gas reservoirs. Oil wells also contain methane and other “associated gases” that can include health-harming volatile organic compounds and deadly hydrogen sulfide.
Sometimes the methane is captured, processed, and marketed as natural gas. But the entire system is prone to leakage, some of it intentional, most not. And when the driller is focused on oil, the methane and other gases are often vented directly into the air or flared, i.e. burned off. Either way, the oil and gas industry emits gobs of methane and other compounds, including nasty carcinogens like benzene. This is not only bad for the environment, but also wasteful: Natural gas lost to leaks or flaring is not taxed and generates no royalties, meaning the state and federal governments — i.e. the taxpayers — are losing out on millions of dollars each year.
The Obama administration and then the Biden administration worked for years on regulations to tackle these emissions, but previous proposals have often come up short. Obama’s EPA, for example, implemented rules that would only cover new oil and gas wells, leaving the tens of thousands of wells contributing to the Four Corners Methane Hot Spot, for example, untouched (the BLM had its own set of rules for existing facilities). Earlier iterations also weren’t strong enough on flaring, didn’t regulate pneumatic controllers (a major emissions source) and exempted the low-producing wells that are common in the Western U.S. and that tend to be leakier than the big producers.
The new rules, while providing some flexibility for operators, fill in most of the gaps in earlier drafts. They will phase out flaring on new wells; require leak-detection surveys on a monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly basis (depending on type and size of facility); and require even low-producing wells to pipe associated gases to market or use them to replace other fuels onsite if at all possible. The rules also allow the EPA to “leverage data collected by certified third parties to identify and address ‘super emitting’ sources.”
Land and public health protectors generally have praised the new rule. “The U.S. EPA has taken bold action to cut methane pollution from oil and gas production,” said Robyn Jackson, Executive Director of Diné C.A.R.E., in a written statement. “Inspections at smaller wells with leaky equipment are especially important at the older infrastructure we see in Navajo Country.” Jackson emphasized that it is now up to the Navajo Nation EPA — and other tribal nations and state governments — to implement the rules for existing sources, adding: “Both federal and tribal government action is critical to protect our communities, our health, and our future.”
For more on this topic, check out our four-part series, Methane Madness, from 2021:
Methane, it’s all the rage these days. Or maybe it would be better to say that it’s the outrage, since that’s what this greenhouse gas, consisting of one part carbon and four parts hydrogen, is causing. The alarm and outrage have surged in the wake o…
Data Dump #
Some folks will read the news about the methane rule and whatnot and get all upset about Biden waging a war on American energy production and compromising our energy independence and putting a bunch of roughnecks out of work. The data say: Not quite, buddy.
In fact, U.S. crude oil production hit a new all-time daily record high in September of this year and is on pace to set a new annual record, as well. That is to say, the hundreds of thousands of wells that pockmark the nation will suck nearly a billion more barrels of oil from the earth this year than they did during the energy crises of the 1970s and 80s. Ack!
Most of the gains are due to a drilling frenzy in the Permian Basin, which stretches across southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. It’s one of the most productive fields in the world; it’s also one of the planet’s largest methane emitters.
- 1.36 million: Tons of methane emitted from the New Mexico side of the Permian Basin oil and gas fields in 2022.
- 3.38 million: Tons of methane emitted from the Texas side of the Permian Basin oil and gas fields in 2022.
- 133: Tons of methane emitted by the HollyFrontier Navajo Refinery in southeastern New Mexico in 2022.
- 35,951: Tons of methane emitted from the Colorado side of the San Juan Basin coalbed methane fields in 2022.
- 19,010: Tons of methane emitted from the now defunct San Juan Coal Mine in northwestern New Mexico in 2022.
And when you hear about how the new methane rules are going to hit oil and gas operators in the pocketbook, just keep this one number in mind:
$26.33 billion: Third quarter 2023 combined profits for the Permian Basin’s ten largest operators: Pioneer, EOG, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Occidental, Diamondback, Devon, Chevron, Mewbourne, and Endeavor. Yes, that’s for just one quarter!
This isn’t happening because of Biden, necessarily, but it’s also not happening in spite of his administration’s policies. Indeed, Biden is walking a fine line on oil and gas, approving big projects like Willow up in Alaska and approving thousands of drilling permits on public lands, while also implementing new regulations, establishing national monuments, and withdrawing millions of acres of federal lands from future oil and gas leasing.
Parting Shot
