Heralding Reduced Methane Emissions, The Environmental Partnership Releases Annual Report

The API Federal Relations Team
Posted August 14, 2024

Breaking News: Today, The Environmental Partnership (TEP) released its sixth annual report, showing significant progress in reducing methane emissions. TEP members, comprised of leading oil and natural gas producers, achieved a 10% reduction in total flare volumes and nearly 7% in flare intensity in 2023.

What Is The Environmental Partnership? TEP is a partnership between companies responsible for nearly 70% of U.S. onshore oil and natural gas production. Together, these companies collaborate on best practices and innovative solutions for a shared goal: reducing methane emissions. 

Significant Steps Toward Reducing Methane Emissions: In addition to reducing total flare volumes and intensity, TEP members also undertook measures to upgrade equipment with more environmentally friendly models and to strengthen emissions monitoring.

• Demonstrated Progress: Since 2018, TEP members have removed or replaced more than 180,000 gas-driven pneumatic controllers, which use gas to power valves, move pistons, and open containers. Replacing the gas-driven controllers has saved an estimated 355,421 metric tonnes of methane emissions per year, based on 2023 EPA reporting requirements.
• Go Deeper: TEP members have also stepped up their leak detection and repair programs, reducing their leak occurrence rate from 0.16% in 2018 to 0.06% in 2023. That’s equivalent to less than one component leaking in 1,000.

Industry Executives Sound Their Support: “The success of industry-led initiatives like The Environmental Partnership further demonstrates our industry’s unwavering commitment to reducing methane emissions across the supply chain while helping to ensure the continued production of affordable and reliable energy,” said Emily Hague, director of The Environmental Partnership.

• Variety of Solutions: Hague continued to praise the collaborative efforts between industry leaders: “From advancements in detecting and measuring emissions to sharing operational solutions, I am proud of how our participating companies are continuing to raise the bar in our collective efforts to achieve meaningful emissions reductions.
• Working to Get the Job Done: Chevron’s manager of methane reduction and TEP chair Vanessa Ryan says the group’s commitment to methane reduction is as strong as ever. “It’s been a transformational year for our industry with new challenges and opportunities, but what remains clear is the commitment of program participants to reducing methane emissions,” said Ryan.

For more information, read the full report or its Executive Summary.