1 Introduction
Methane is a greenhouse gas (ghg) with significant global warming potential. It is also a short-lived climate pollutant (slcp) and stays in the atmosphere much shorter than carbon dioxide (CO2).1 Compared to other slcps, methane emissions are much more irregular, emitted intermittently from wetlands, agricultural and animal farming, landfills, and energy-related sources such as fugitive emissions from oil and gas operations, abandoned coal mines, etc.2 The energy sector – including oil, natural gas, coal, and bioenergy – accounts for around 40% of methane emissions from human activity.3 According to the International Energy Agency (iea), China, India, the United States, Russia, and Brazil are the world’s five largest methane emitters (from all sources).4 Likewise, the following countries reported to account for the highest level of energy-related methane emissions globally i.e., China, Russia, the United
There are notable technical and risk management aspects to production and supply operations carried out by industry operators and since different countries have different levels of experience and know-how, it is essential to create platforms for facilitating knowledge sharing and best practices for implementing tested measures for curtailing emissions and other externalities. Primarily, industry operations to produce, process, and supply oil and gas are carried out under relevant national regulatory frameworks, which may comprise prescriptive standards, performance-based, informational, and economic instruments of regulation.7 Methane control requirements and best practices may also be stipulated under relevant permitting and contractual provisions applicable to private local and international operators.8 As discussed in this chapter, such industry best practices and operational approaches have become transnational to a significant extent because most firms and governmental institutions in the respective domestic sectors are increasingly engaged in international partnerships and collaborations such as Global Methane Initiative (gmi) and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s (ogci) multi-stakeholder Methane Guiding Principles group.
The gmi is an international public-private partnership framework through which member countries and organizations coordinate their efforts toward
The countries and institutions with limited information and technical know-how and insufficient monitoring and methane abatement technologies or limited access to buyers and consuming markets would typically have higher emissions intensity when compared to countries and companies with access to viable markets, existing supply or storage networks, and detection or abatement technologies. For example, some producing countries such as Norway in Europe and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East are reported to have low emissions intensity per unit of production. In contrast, other countries such as Turkmenistan and Venezuela have the highest methane emissions intensity.13 It is reported that if all producing countries matched Norway’s emissions intensity, global methane emissions from oil and gas operations would fall by more than 90 percent.14
Given the issues highlighted above, this chapter will examine the increasing role of global partnerships amongst private multinational firms and public sector agencies for methane emissions control and mitigation measures. Over the years, the main barriers to effective mitigation and emissions control measures have included informational gaps between private industry operators, public ‘regulatory’ institutions, and other stakeholders. The chapter identifies various voluntary, national-level, and industry-led efforts, including pledges toward methane reduction targets. In conclusion, decision-makers need to adopt coherent policies and regulatory measures that enable private operators to fulfill their individual emissions control plans and pledges efficiently.
2 The Gas Production and Supply Networks
Natural gas comprises mostly methane; thus, to understand the challenges and potentials for effectively addressing fugitive methane emissions or leaks in the oil and gas context, it is essential to highlight the features of the value chain. The typical gas supply system comprises (i) upstream exploration and production, (ii) the midstream gas (processing, storage, and transportation), and (iii) downstream (sales and distribution) segments. The upstream producers hold a license or a lease granting proprietary rights to explore and produce gas, which is gathered through small-diameter pipelines (gathering lines) from upstream
Natural gas production and supply chain
source: us eia, ‘natural gas explained’ (2022)
Produced natural gas comprises mostly methane, thus there are economic, resource conservation, environmental, and energy supply benefits from capturing natural gas which may otherwise be flared, vented, or released into the atmosphere through leaks. An environmental co-benefit of preventing emissions or leaks would be avoiding air pollution and potential climatic impacts. Upstream emissions may arise during ‘flaring,’ i.e., the controlled combustion of natural gas for operational, safety, or economic reasons, or ‘venting,’ i.e.,
Most flaring and venting in upstream production operations occur in areas with conventional oil and associated gas formations as depicted in Figure 13.2 below.
Geologic formations and natural gas sources
source: ibid.
In such fields, natural gas occurs together with oil, forming a cap over oil in underground reservoirs. Thus, producing oil in such a formation ordinarily presupposes the need to deal with the gas. In places where natural gas pipelines are not available to take away the associated gas produced from the oil wells, the natural gas may be reinjected into the oil-bearing formation, or it may be vented or flared. Reinjecting unmarketable natural gas can help maintain pressure in oil wells to improve oil production. Basins with non-associated gas fields, i.e., reservoirs with gas only, would ordinarily not need to flare or vent. Such fields are not developed unless a specific use or market and connecting
Note that capturing gas that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere is one thing while securing adequate pipeline or storage capacity and eventually selling it in a viable market is another.17 Unlike crude oil, natural gas is difficult and expensive to store for a long-term duration. Thus, a typical operator producing gas in association with oil would be tempted to flare or use the gas for enhanced oil recovery processes or on-site power generation if there are no adequate gathering lines, processing facilities, and enough transmission pipeline capacity or creditworthy buyers such as an industry or power utility in the downstream energy markets (see Figure 13.1 above). When such supply bottlenecks arise, the challenge can be aggravated when production is in remote areas with limited or non-existing access to necessary supply and storage facilities. Thus, there would be a need to invest in such facilities or at least consider access to such delivery infrastructure when planning production operations. Consequently, the domestic policy and regulatory framework could play an instrumental role in addressing such bottlenecks either by facilitating such access or adopting other tested policy tools mentioned earlier.18 It is noted that global gas flaring dropped by 5 percent from 150 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2019 to 142 bcm in 2020 largely due to developments in the US which accounted for about 70 percent of that global decline. The main reported reasons for the decline include a slight fall in oil production and, more importantly, the availability of new infrastructure to supply and use gas that would otherwise be flared.19
Although the peculiarities and challenges in different jurisdictions vary, there is a general notion that using the best available mitigation technologies can be cost-efficient if the deployment of such is supported by the right policies and regulatory instruments.20 Policies could be developed to incentivize
2.1 Net-Zero Issues in Production and Supply Operations
The International Energy Agency’s (iea) World Energy Outlook 2021 (weo21) includes an outlook on the role of natural gas and other energy resources towards 2040 and beyond.22 The weo21 adopts a scenario approach to examine future energy trends. The four scenarios adopted by the report include (i) the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (nze), (ii) the Announced Pledges Scenario (aps), (iii) the Stated Policies Scenario (steps), and (iv) the Sustainable Development Scenario (sds).23 Under the sds scenario, a surge in clean energy policies and investment is presumed and expected to put the global energy system on track to achieve sustainability and the Paris Agreement objectives, including universal energy access and air quality goals. Whereas the nze2050 outlook extends the sds assumptions, a growing number of countries and companies are assumed to meet their net-zero emissions targets by 2050.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (epa) Global Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emission Projections & Mitigation Potential: 2015–2050,24 global methane emissions from natural gas and oil systems increased by 15% as production increased between 1990 and 2015. The report notes that numerous oil and gas initiatives have aimed to reduce emissions over the past decade. As a result, production has grown faster than emissions. The average rates of methane emissions per unit of oil and gas production have decreased because of past deliberate efforts to curtail emissions, especially in countries that have been consistent in seeking the most efficient set of policy instruments and approaches to cutting down emissions.25 It is noted that as energy utilities and other major consumers sort to reduce their reliance on carbon-intensive coal and heavy oils and the price of gas became considerably cheaper, gas flaring in the US reportedly fell even though oil production increased over the past decade. For instance, in the US state of North Dakota, policies prescribing incremental gas capture targets were set to facilitate a reduction in flaring by producers. Thus, in 2021 about 92.5% of the state’s natural gas production was captured, thereby exceeding the state’s 91% target capture rate.26 As noted by the eia, meeting the capture targets required a buildout of natural gas gathering lines to transport natural gas from wells to processing plants and a buildout of the processing plants that remove impurities and heavier hydrocarbons from the natural gas, including pipelines and storage facilities
Flaring intensity (i.e., the volume of gas flared per barrel of oil produced) indicates the effectiveness of a country’s gas utilization policies. The World Bank/ggfr report notes that the volume of gas flared globally decreased by 6 percent from 2012 to 2021, while oil production increased by 4 percent.28 Flaring intensity and arguably potential emissions that could arise as a result markedly decreased in 10 countries: however, it remained stable or increased in some countries, including large upsurges in Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Algeria, Gabon, and Libya (see Graph 13.1 reflecting the flaring intensity in the countries reviewed under the World Bank/ggfr report).29
Flaring intensity in countries reviewed by world bank/ggfr-2012, 2020 and 2021
3 National Regulatory Measures and Policies Developments
In the domestic context, two broad categories of regulatory approaches are often used in dealing with the emissions challenge. First, the prescriptive approach focuses on specific and detailed laws and regulations that operators must comply with, including fines and other regulatory requirements. Second is the performance-based approach mixed with an incentive-based framework, which emphasizes collaborative agreement on realistic objectives and targets and having operators demonstrate that they have met stipulated performance standards and goals.30
iea categorization of methane policies in selected producing countries by regulatory approacha
SOURCE: IEA, DRIVING DOWN METHANE LEAKS FROM THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: A REGULATORY ROADMAP AND TOOLKIT (IEA PUBLICATIONS, 2021) P. 14.
3.1 Highlights from Selected Countries
To further examine the dynamics of developing and implementing various methane emissions mitigation policy tools and regulatory measures to reduce activities that create emissions such as flaring, it is worth exploring the experiences in selected countries with a considerable level of production and supply operations such as Nigeria, US, Canada, Norway, etc. In Nigeria, laws and regulations aimed at banning gas flaring and venting had been in place since the 1980s, although largely ineffective because the approach of issuing fines made it cheaper for operators to flare and pay the fine rather than developing gas utilization and emission control measures which are more expensive.35 Nevertheless, the introduction of gas market development reforms in the 2000s to create opportunities for viable domestic utilisation and commercialization schemes, including cross-border pipelines (such as the West African Gas Pipeline) and lng exports, have considerably impacted flaring and venting reduction in Nigeria.36 Although the country has remained in the top seven flaring countries, it has nonetheless steadily reduced its flaring by some 70 percent over the past 15 years and saw a reduction from flaring around 25bcm in
In the US, the framework for regulating air pollution is primarily under the Clean Air Act. It includes the New Source Performance Standards for Oil and Gas Systems administered by the US epa in conjunction with state-level institutions.38 Most oil and gas operations take place on private land by private operators engaging in a market-based system. To some extent, they are subject to regulation in varying degrees at the federal, state, and local levels.39 The US Bureau of Land Management manages the Federal government’s onshore subsurface mineral estate and some aspects of the oil and gas development for Indian tribes from the Tribal mineral estate. Thus, the Bureau of Land Management imposes royalty payments on flared or vented associated gas that could have been utilized and on gas flared or vented without prior approval. If flaring and venting could have been avoided, the associated gas is considered avoidably lost or wasted and subject to royalties.40 Notably, North Dakota, the second-biggest oil-producing state in the US and has significant levels of associated gas fields, established incremental targets over several years to increase the amount gas operators must capture. Operators may apply for a flaring exemption if connecting a well to a natural gas gathering line is not economically viable. Without an exemption, violators will pay taxes and royalties on flared gas. Gas is exempt from taxes and royalties for two years and 30 days (25 months) from the first day of production if at least 75 percent of it is used at the well site to generate electricity or collected to produce petrochemicals or fertilizers.41 By 2020, about 92% of the state’s natural gas production was captured, thereby reducing oil production’s flaring and emissions intensity.42
In discussing regulatory measures relating to oil and gas production in the US alongside other countries, it is important to note that outside of the US, the national government of the respective country typically has absolute ownership and property in all land and oil and gas resources underground in most cases. Further, unlike in the US where operations mostly take place on
Another country with significant oil and gas operations and for instance a major supplier of gas to Europe is Norway. Norway became one of the first countries to introduce a carbon tax that applies to emissions from the combustion of all gas, oil, and diesel in petroleum operations on the continental shelf and CO2 and natural gas releases.46 As mentioned earlier, Norway has one of the lowest flaring and emission intensity globally compared to other major producing countries. In 2008, British Columbia implemented Canada’s first broad-based carbon tax regulation. With a current value of Can$25.60 per tonne of CO2e (approximately US$20 as of August 2021), the tax applies to the purchase and use of fossil fuels burned for transportation, home heating, and electricity. The regulation does not include legal requirements for the oil and gas industry. The federal government decided not to apply a carbon tax on flaring or methane emissions in oil and gas operations because doing so could affect the competitiveness of hundreds of small oil and gas producers.
Another example of tried and tested policy measures in a national-level context is in Canada, where Regulated facilities in Alberta, are required to implement specific measures under the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction System: reduce their emissions, redeem credits from facilities that
According to the World Bank’s ggfr report, about twenty-three jurisdictions have set measurement, and reporting standards for the oil and gas sector, including data on flaring and venting that, can be used in proffering solutions and corrective steps. However, despite the increasing recognition of the need to eliminate flaring and venting, only 21 jurisdictions have established outright bans on routine flaring or venting. Just 14 of the 28 jurisdictions reviewed impose monetary fines or use market-based solutions, signaling reluctance to follow through with corrective action.47 To the extent that these countries have nocs engaging in international joint ventures, including iocs and domestic local operators involved in various aspects of the oil and gas production and supply industry in a transnational sense, it can be observed that best practices and approaches for emissions control or abatement are often adopted through the relevant multinational partnerships and intergovernmental initiatives, including provisions in model licensing and contractual frameworks.
As national-level institutions work with local and international companies operating in their jurisdictions to develop tried and tested measures highlighted earlier, such measures become adopted in other developing jurisdictions through the activities of transnational initiatives such as the ogci mentioned earlier. International operators, nocs, and their governmental partners in the ogci recently announced a 2025 methane intensity target reflecting the total methane emissions from oil and gas production as a percentage of the associated volume of gas marketed which could serve as a performance standard to comparatively determine methane emission levels from different actors and segments of the petroleum industry. The initiative outlines a series of methane reduction measures, including a commitment to Zero Routine Flaring by 2030, which may be incorporated into respective national regulatory or policy instruments and frameworks. The overall objective is to be consistent with the Paris goals and approach near-zero methane emissions
- (a)Global reduction of gas flaring and venting has been much slower than what is possible;
- (b)Successful reduction requires strong financial and non-financial incentives, combined with robust monitoring and enforcement capacity; and
- (c)If flared and vented gas could be made available in nearby communities, it could replace more-polluting fuels (e.g., biomass and charcoal), thus cutting emissions, improving air quality, and potentially expanding access to energy among those who need it most.
- (d)Flaring and venting regulations must consider the capabilities and resources available to the authorities responsible for enforcing them.
- (e)About half of the 21 countries analyzed have reduced flaring volumes and flaring intensity since 2012.
- (f)Developing an effective regulatory framework requires monitoring, measuring, and enforcement capabilities that may need to be developed by relevant institutions over time.
- (g)Penalties should be established at a sufficiently high level to make the alternative of investing in flaring and venting reduction more attractive than paying the fine.48
3.2 National Experiences on Gas Flaring and Methane Reduction Policies
Gas flaring produces CO2, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other vocs, depending on the chemical composition of the natural gas in the reservoir and how well the natural gas is burnt in the flare. The incomplete combustion of gas during flaring could lead to the release of some methane
Malaysia’s Petronas has gradually introduced new emissions control measures requiring all new oil and gas developments to incorporate plans for zero flaring and venting of associated gas.52 Another major gas producer and supplier to the international market is Algeria, which has adopted an unconditional target of less than 1 percent of total associated gas to be flared by 2030 as part of its ndc. Nigeria has set zero flaring by 2030 as a conditional contribution in its first ndc, updated in 2021. The responsible regulator in the United Kingdom issued guidance in June 2021 requiring all new oil and gas
Developing the technologies and identifying leaks and fugitive emissions along the gas production and supply networks has received some attention in most jurisdictions. In 2016, Canada, Mexico, and the United States jointly called for a 40–45 percent decrease in methane emissions from their respective oil and gas sectors by 2025. Nigeria’s ndc foresees a 60 percent reduction in fugitive methane emissions by 2031 as a conditional contribution. Given the complexities of measures and steps needed to achieve these targets and implement necessary best practices and technological options, there is an obvious need for collaboration and partnerships between private (international and national) industry operators and public sector (regulatory and institutional) stakeholders.
Experiences in the US show that retrofitting parts of the natural gas production and supply network, such as valves and gas-driven pneumatic controllers and pumps, or replacing them with lower-emitting versions can help reduce emissions (epa, 2019; Oyewunmi, 2021). Another example is Norway, where the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association and the oil and gas companies operating in Norway played a key role in developing and deploying new quantification methodologies and guidelines for reporting methane and other vocs. The guidelines are made public and used by operating companies to submit environmental data to the authorities (unece/gmi, 2019). The Norwegian Environmental Agency initiated a two-year study between 2014 and 2016 to survey methane emission sources at offshore installations. The objective was to quantify emissions, improve quantification, undertake the best assessment techniques, and identify suitable mitigation measures.
Industry operators may be required by law and regulation or act voluntarily to adopt the best emissions reduction or control systems. Technologies for monitoring and leak detection and repair are essential in mitigation efforts. Not all operators and agencies in all the producing countries would have the financial resources and technical expertise to deploy these advanced systems, hence, the need for information sharing and collaborations and a conducive regulatory and policy environment. Recently, 14 European gas infrastructure operators and associations led a project to develop new technologies to curb methane emissions. Such initiatives are against the backdrop of recent EU-level discussions about the best approaches to curb methane emissions from a climate change mitigation perspective. Notwithstanding these initiatives and
4 Multinational Initiatives and Best Practice Guidelines and Principles
Gas production and supply in producing countries have become more interconnected with international energy markets and consumers over the past two decades. As reflected in iea’s report in Figure 13.2 above and the recent findings from the World Bank/ggfr survey, the regulatory framework and policies for controlling emissions depend largely on the national institutions in the respective national contexts. Consequently, multinational partnerships and knowledge sharing between international and national (public-private sector) stakeholders will be key to understanding and developing best practices and cost-effective solutions. The Global Methane Pledge is a significant example of interested countries coming together and committing to take voluntary actions to support a collective effort to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030 (see Chapter 2). National institutions such as the US epa, Norway’s Petroleum Directorate, and the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority signed up for the Global Methane Pledge in 2021.54
The consolidation of the Global Methane Pledge potentially creates a collaborative platform through which best practices, regulatory approaches, data, and technical expertise can be shared. For instance, the US epa’s non-CO2 greenhouse gas technical report series provides projected emissions, and technical and economic mitigation estimates of non-CO2 ghgs (especially methane) from anthropogenic sources for 195 countries and all 50 states in the U.S. Such non-CO2 ghg datasets provide information that can be used to understand national and sub-national contributions of ghg emissions and mitigation opportunities.55 Other transnational initiatives typically aim at: (i)
The oil and gas industry operates based on rules and regulations influencing the conduct of local and international private corporations, government-owned corporations, agencies, and service providers along the production, processing, and supply segments. As a result, operators and governmental institutions are potentially in the best position to facilitate transnational collaborations and partnerships to leverage their diverse expertise and knowledge to establish best practices and guidelines and effectively control methane emissions.
The gmi’s Best Practice Guidance for Effective Methane Management in the Oil and Gas Sector reviews and recommends best practice measures for methane management within the oil and gas sector. The guidance is intended to be a resource for facility owners, operators, and government policymakers engaged in the international oil and gas industry. It seeks to provide information about cost-effective measures for detecting and mitigating methane emissions along the full oil and gas value chain at the company-and national levels. Guidance for developing and implementing practices for monitoring, reporting, and verifying (mrv) methane emissions is also provided.57 The major emission sources and the applicable operational or technical mitigation measures are often well-known by most industry operators and institutions with relevant experience and information.
Some of the common methane emission areas and tested mitigation options along with the oil and gas supply networks include: (a) component and
- a)There is considerable uncertainty about the level of methane emissions from oil and gas operations. Private and public sector institutions need increased efforts to reduce the knowledge gap.
- b)Quantifying methane emissions is challenging, but technologies to assist in methane detection and quantification are readily available and should be adopted by companies and authorities in their mrv activities.
- c)Some oil and gas companies are making progress in quantifying and mitigating emissions. Increased recognition of proper methane management as being important for resource efficiency and environmental protection has led several large companies to undertake an action, unilaterally and through industry associations and public-private partnerships, to address the issue.
- d)Host governments and institutions can support effective and cost-efficient policies to address methane emissions from the oil and gas
sector through regulatory standards, economic instruments, and agreements between the industry and national authorities.
In summary, it is worth noting that cost-efficiency is essential in adopting mitigation measures and technologies. Thus, measures with low abatement costs should be implemented before those with higher ones. In addition, clarity and transparency in rules and procedures for standards, economic instruments, and negotiations and enforcement mechanisms are essential.
The Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (ogmp) methodology was created by the ccac in 2014 as a voluntary initiative to help companies in a transnational context to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.59 Through participation in the ogmp associated reporting, companies were provided with a credible mechanism to address their methane emissions systematically and responsibly and to demonstrate this systematic approach and its results to stakeholders. As part of their efforts to reduce methane emissions from upstream oil and gas operations, member companies developed Technical Guidance Documents on each of the nine core emission sources covered by the ogmp.60 The guidance documents present suggested methodologies for quantifying methane emissions from each source and describe established mitigation options that Partners should reference when determining if the source is “mitigated.” For instance, Technical Guidance Document Number 2 on Fugitive Component and Equipment Leaks deals with fugitive emissions that arise from unintentional leaks from oil and gas operations.61
In 2017, a set of Methane Guiding Principles were developed collaboratively by a coalition of industry, international institutions, non-governmental organizations, and academics.62 The five Methane Guiding Principles focus on priority areas for action along the natural gas supply chain, from production to the final consumer. It includes steps towards continuous emissions reduction and supporting sound regulation and policy initiatives. The signatories to the guiding principles intend for them to be applied concurrently. In the context of these principles, methane emissions refer to venting, fugitive (unintended)
The methods for reducing emissions from venting have a lot in common with best practices for reducing emissions from flaring and engineering design. To avoid or minimize venting, for instance, there are recommended best practices in key production aspects relating to hydrocarbon liquid storage tanks, compressor seals and starter motors, glycol dehydrators, removing liquids from gas wells, well-completion operations, and oil well casinghead operations. If methane needs to be released, it is recommended to use vapor recovery or flares rather than venting.
On the other hand, the best practice guidelines for reducing gas flaring are categorized into three. Ideally, waste gas production is prevented. If this is not feasible, waste gas recovery for sale can generate revenue. Otherwise, storing (reinjecting) gases in oil and gas reservoirs is also an alternative. If the waste gas cannot be recovered to be sold as natural gas or natural gas liquid product or stored, it could be used to generate electricity. If flaring cannot feasibly be prevented, then improving the efficiency of flares would be necessary to reduce methane emissions. The design or production systems are also essential in curbing methane emissions by using vapor-recovery units to recover waste gases and trucking the recovered gas to processing facilities.
5 Conclusion
Several oil and gas-producing countries and operators have increasingly engaged in transnational platforms and initiatives to share best practices and know-how on tried and tested methane emissions reduction measures. Major buyers and consumers in the international oil and gas markets, for instance, the EU, have also begun to pay close attention to the emissions intensity of products and supply arrangements. As these trends continue with the aim of curbing emissions of methane, this chapter highlights the importance of developing effective national-level measures and institutional capabilities, while fostering collaborations and knowledge sharing through various transnational platforms.
Climate and Clean Air Coalition (ccac), ‘Methane’ <
See International Energy Agency (iea), Global Methane Tracker 2020, (iea Publications, 2020) <
United Nations Environment Programme (unep)/ccac, Global Assessment: Urgent steps must be taken to reduce methane emissions this decade (6 May 2021); iea, Global Methane Tracker 2022 (iea Publications, 2022) <
ibid. The major methane emission sources for these countries vary greatly. For example, a key source of methane emissions in China is coal production, whereas Russia emits most of its methane from natural gas and oil systems. The largest sources of methane emissions from human activities in the United States are oil and gas systems, livestock enteric fermentation, and landfills.
ibid.
See US Energy Information Administration (eia), International Energy Outlook 2021 (October 6, 2021) <
Tade Oyewunmi, ‘Natural Gas in a Carbon-Constrained World: Examining the Role of Institutions in Curbing Methane and Other Fugitive Emissions’ (2021) 9 lsu Journal of Energy Law & Resources 1; Monika U Ehrman, ‘Lights Out in the Bakken: A Review and Analysis of Flaring Regulation and its Potential Effect on North Dakota Shale Oil Production’ (2014) 117 West Virginia Law Review 2, 550–90; Arnold W Reitze, Jr., ‘The Control of Methane and voc Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in the Western United States’ (2018) 54 Idaho Law Review 213.
iea (n4).
Global Methane Initiative (gmi), ‘Partner Countries’ <
Methane Guiding Principles Initiative, ‘Methane Guiding Principles’ <
iea, Curtailing Methane Emissions from Fossil Fuel Operations: Pathways to a 75% cut by 2030 (iea Publications, 2020) 1 – 56.
ibid.
See iea, ‘Global Methane Tracker 2022’ (n4).
ibid.
Oyewunmi (n8) pp. 126–196; Donna Peng and Rahmat Poudineh, A Holistic Framework for the Study of Interdependence Between Electricity and Gas Sectors (Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, el 16, November 2015).
ibid.
See Tade Oyewunmi, Regulating Gas Supply to Power Markets: Transnational Approaches to Competitiveness and Security of Supply (Wolters Kluwer International, 2018) 360 at 30 – 78 on the ‘Principles and Rationales for Competitive and Secure Gas Markets.’
See iea (n7) on ‘Driving Down Methane Leaks from the Oil and Gas Industry.’
World Bank/ Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (ggfr), Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report (April 2021).
See discussions about domestic regulatory approaches and issues in Leon Moller and J.I. Mohammed, ‘The Problem of Gas Flaring – A Review of Current Legal and Policy Efforts in the UK and Nigeria’ (Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence (ogel) Journal Special Issue on Law and Policy for Gas Flaring in a Low-carbon Economy, 2022) <
US Department of Energy (doe), Natural Gas Flaring and Venting: State and Federal Regulatory Overview, Trends, and Impacts (Office of Oil and Natural Gas Office of Fossil Energy, 2019) 1–64; World Bank/ggfr, Global Flaring and Venting Regulations: 28 Case Studies from Around the World, (ggfr, May 2022) <
iea, World Energy Outlook 2021 (iea Publications, 2021) <
The nze scenario sets out a narrow but achievable pathway for the global energy sector to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Under the aps, it is assumed that all climate commitments made by governments around the world, including Nationally Determined Contributions and longer-term net zero targets, will be met in full and on time. In the steps context, the current policy and regulatory framework as well as those that have been announced by governments around the world in the respective countries are deemed be in place during the period the outlook covers.
US epa, Non-CO2 Emission Projections and Mitigation Summary Report: 2015–2050 (epa-430-R-19-010, 2019) <
ibid. See also World Bank/ggfr (n22).
See US eia, ‘North Dakota’s natural gas producers meet the state’s natural gas capture target’ (December 8, 2021) <
US doe (n24) 1–64; World Bank and ggfr (n24); GaffneyCline/Environmental Defense Fund (edf), ‘Tackling flaring: Learnings from leading Permian operators’ (2020) <
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
ibid. See also iea (n7) on ‘Driving Down Methane Leaks from the Oil and Gas Industry’; Tade Oyewunmi, ‘The US Gas Supply Boom under Carbon-Constraints: Examining the Role of Regulatory Institutions’ in Tade Oyewunmi and others (eds), Decarbonisation and the Energy Industry: the role of law and regulation in low-carbon and transitional energy markets (Hart Publishing, 2020).
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
ibid.
ibid. See also the US state on North Dakota’s scenario in Ehrman (n8).
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
Yinka Omorogbe, ‘Law and Investor Protection in the Nigerian Natural Gas Industry’ (1996) 14 Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law 179–192; Tade Oyewunmi, ‘Examining the Legal and Regulatory Framework for Domestic Gas Utilization and Power Generation in Nigeria’ (2014) 7 Journal of World Energy Law & Business 6, 538–557.
Oyewunmi (n16) 132–171.
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
See Bradley N. Kershaw, ‘Flames, Fixes, and the Road Forward: The Waste Prevention Rule and blm Authority to Regulate Natural Gas Flaring and Venting’ (Winter 2018) 29 Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review 1, 115–164; Reitze (n8).
See, Joel Eisen et al., ‘Oil and Gas Production (Ch 4)’ in Joel Eisen and others (eds), Energy, Economics and the Environment, Cases and Materials (5th edition, Foundation Press 2019) 147–270.
Reitze Jr. (n8); Oyewunmi (n8).
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
ibid.
iea, The Oil and Gas Industry in Energy Transitions (iea Publications, 2020) <
World Bank/ggfr (n22); See also iea (n7).
ibid.
ibid.
ibid.
ibid.
Tade Oyewunmi, ‘Editorial ogel Special Issue on “Law and Policy for Gas Flaring in a Low-carbon Economy’ (ogel 2, 2022) <
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
ibid. The Zero Routine Flaring (zfr) by 2030 initiative was launched in 2015 via the World Bank and ggfr platform in which the relevant governments and oil companies commit to end routine flaring no later than 2030 see
World Bank/ggfr (n22).
ibid.
European Commission (E.C.), ‘Press Release on Launch by United States, the European Union, and Partners of the Global Methane Pledge to Keep 1.5C Within Reach’ (2 November 2021) <
Harro van Asselt and Veera Pekkarinen, ‘The Global Methane Pledge: a timely new step in global climate governance’ (cceel Blog, 6 October, 2021) <
unece/gmi, ‘Regulations and public-private Partnership to improve knowledge about methane emissions and mitigation options – Norway’ (Case Study Report, 2019) <
ibid.
ibid.
unep and Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (ogmp), ‘2.0 Framework’ (ccac, 2020)<
ccac, Oil and Gas Methane Partnership Technical Guidance Documents, (2020) <
ibid.
Methane Guiding Principles Initiative (n11).
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