Register      Login
Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Developing a ‘fit for purpose’ approach to managing methane emissions

Ian Joynes A * , Mark Wittwer A and Yvette Manolas A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Woodside Energy Ltd, Perth, WA, Australia.

* Correspondence to: ian.joynes@woodside.com.au

The APPEA Journal 63 S399-S403 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22265
Accepted: 20 March 2023   Published: 11 May 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

Gas producers need practical strategies to manage methane emissions within their natural gas supply chains. Methane sources are varied, and in most cases, challenging to identify and quantify due to their temporal and source-specific nature. However, once detected, mitigation is often simple. Complicating this is the diverse and rapidly evolving suite of technology solutions to support measurement and mitigation. As such, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach may not provide a complete and cost-effective pathway to mitigate material methane sources. Woodside has taken specific action to reduce methane emissions and worked with stakeholders to improve methane emission management. In this paper, Woodside describes its journey in developing a ‘fit for purpose’ approach to managing methane emissions supporting the identification and prioritisation of projects for decarbonisation. Specifically it explores: (i) the learnings from the activities undertaken to develop methane inventories and the documentation of methane action plans for its facilities; (ii) experience with the measurement technologies deployed and how these technologies have informed a pragmatic basis to prioritise the delivery of mitigation projects; and (iii) the importance of ongoing peer knowledge sharing to unlock cost-effective pathways for sustainable measurement and mitigation technologies being deployed within Australia.

Keywords: decarbonisation, emissions, fugitive, gas, greenhouse, inventory, measurement, methane, mitigation, oil, valuation.

Ian Joynes is the Global Methane Decarbonisation Lead at Woodside and is deployed in the decarbonisation team. Ian has degrees in Engineering, Chemistry, and Business Administration, and with 20 years’ experience in the energy industry, his focus is Woodside’s global methane management strategy.

Mark Wittwer is Senior Environmental Engineer at Woodside in the Operations Reliability & Integrity Management Team. Mark has 17 years’ industry experience, with sustained focus on emissions and energy efficiency improvements in Operations and Developments.

Yvette Manolas is the General Manager and Global Head of Decarbonisation at Woodside responsible for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across Woodside’s global operations and projects. With 20 years’ experience in oil and gas, Yvette has held various roles and global leadership positions including General Manager of the Pluto LNG facilities and currently sits on several boards.


References

API (2021) Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Methodologies for the Natural Gas and Oil Industry. Available at http://www.api.org/-/media/files/policy/esg/ghg/2021-api-ghg-compendium-110921.pdf

Ayasse AK, Thorpe AK, Cusworth DH, Kort EA, Negron AG, Heckler J, Asner G, Duren RM (2022) Methane remote sensing and emission quantification of offshore shallow water oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Research Letters 17, 084039
Methane remote sensing and emission quantification of offshore shallow water oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Duren R, Gordon D (2022) Tackling unlit and inefficient gas flaring. Science 377, 1486–1487.
Tackling unlit and inefficient gas flaring.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

GERG (2023) GERG ‘Technology Benchmark for site level methane emissions quantification’ – Phase I. Available at http://www.gerg.eu/projects/methane-emissions/gerg-technology-benchmark-for-site-level-methane-emissions-quantification-phase-i

GMI (2020) ‘Identifying and Evaluating Opportunities for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation & Operational Efficiency Improvement at Oil and Gas Facilities.’ (Global Methane Institute) Available at https://globalmethane.org/documents/Identifying_and_Evaluating_Opportunities_for_Greenhouse_Gas_Mitigation_Operational_Efficiency_Improvement_at_Oil_and_Gas_Facilities_2020_English.pdf

IEA (2021) ‘Curtailing Methane Emissions from Fossil Fuel Operations.’ (IEA: Paris) Available at https://www.iea.org/reports/curtailing-methane-emissions-from-fossil-fuel-operations

MGP (2023a) Best Practice Guides. Retrieved from Methane Guiding Principles. Available at https://methaneguidingprinciples.org/resources-and-guides/best-practice-guides/

MGP (2023b) Methane Flaring Toolkit. Retrieved from Methane Guiding Principles. Available at https://methaneguidingprinciples.org/resources-and-guides/toolkits/

Norskolje & Gass (2004) Handbook for quantifying direct methane and Non-Methane VOC emissions, Appendix B to guidelines no 044 ver. 17, 23. Available at https://www.iea.org/policies/8894-handbook-for-quantifying-direct-methane-and-non-methane-voc-emissions-appendix-b-to-guidelines-no-044-ver-17-23-2019-updates

OGMP2.0 (2023) Templates and Guidance. Retrieved from OGMP2.0 Technical Guidance Documents. Available at https://www.ogmpartnership.com/templates-guidance

Shen L, Zavala-Araiza D, Gautam R, Omara M, Scarpelli T, Sheng J, Sulprizio MP, Zhuang J, Zhang Y, Qu Z, Lu X, Hamburg SP, Jacob DJ (2021) Unravelling a large methane emission discrepancy in Mexico using satellite observations. Remote Sensing of Environment 260, 112461
Unravelling a large methane emission discrepancy in Mexico using satellite observations.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

TotalEnergies (2022) Methane Emissions Reduction: TotalEnergies Implements a Worldwide Drone-Based Detection Campaign. Press release, 16 May 2022. Available at https://totalenergies.com/media/news/press-releases/methane-emissions-reduction-totalenergies-implements-worldwide-drone