Oil companies hiding methane emissions from satellite monitors

Oil and gas companies are likely deploying equipment to conceal the level of gas they flare, and effectively the amount of methane they emit.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. It is the main component of natural gas, and is released into the atmosphere through various natural and human activities, including agriculture, fossil fuel production and use, landfills, and wastewater treatment.

While methane persists for a shorter time in the atmosphere compared to CO2, its potency as a greenhouse gas makes it a significant contributor to global warming.

The oil and gas industry is a major source of methane emission, which is released through flaring (gas burning) or venting (direct gas release).

A global pact aims to cut methane emission by 30% by 2030, but accurately measuring emitted quantities remains challenging.

Satellites are currently used to estimate the amount of methane emitted but many countries, including Nigeria, also rely on oil and gas companies to report what they emitted – which may not always be reliable.

Without satellite data, countries will be forced to rely mostly on self-disclosed reporting from oil and gas companies.

“Enclosed Combustors”

A new investigation finds that an equipment deployed by oil firms is preventing scientists from accurately detecting methane and other greenhouse gases and pollutants.

The report says energy companies operating in many countries appear to have installed technology that could stop researchers from identifying methane other emitted gases.

Investigators found that “enclosed combustors” have started appearing in countries that promised to end flaring.

In Colorado, the sole US state to ban routine flaring in 2021, enclosed flares are replacing open-lit ones prior to the ban, according to the UK Guardian.

At Fulcrum Energy site, a device resembling an enclosed flare was also seen in the place of the lit flare, as observed by the NGO Earthworks. The site’s owner, Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds, told the Guardian it had eliminated flaring from its facilities.

CarbonMapper’s satellite data reveals methane and carbon dioxide plumes emitted from enclosed flares in New Mexico’s Four Corners region, as well as at facilities in Scotland, Norway, and Germany.

Additionally, satellite images depict enclosed flares at Ineos sites in Grangemouth, Scotland, and the Ineos Rafnes refinery in Norway. Similarly, facilities owned by the steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal in Germany are observed to have enclosed flares, as reported by the Guardian.

What experts say

Experts say enclosed combustors are functionally the same as flares, except the flame is hidden.

Tim Doty, a former regulator at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said: “Enclosed combustors are basically a flare with an internal flare tip that you don’t see. Enclosed flaring is still flaring. It’s just different infrastructure that they’re allowing.

“Enclosed flaring is, in truth, probably less efficient than a typical flare. It’s better than venting, but going from a flare to an enclosed flare or a vapour combustor is not an improvement in reducing emissions.”

Eric Kort, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, said: “If you enclose the flare, people don’t see it, so they don’t complain about it. But it also means it’s not visible from space by most of the methods used to track flare volumes.”

What the companies say

An Ineos spokesperson said the enclosed flare “leads to significantly less noise being emitted and much lower luminosity”, adding that these things were important for communities living and working close to its sites, the Guardian reports.

An ArcelorMittal spokesperson said: “We installed an enclosed flaring device as a precautionary measure, so that the flare is not visible from a distance if gas had to be flared at night.” The device had a 100% combustion rate and no measurable emissions, the company added.

Zubin Bamji, the programme manager of the World Bank’s Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership, said volumes from enclosed flares were “very small and are unlikely to have a significant impact on flare volume estimates at a regional, country or global level”.