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  4. BP and Shell enlist with industry group to reduce emissions

BP and Shell enlist with industry group to reduce emissions

Release date:
September 18, 2019
BPX Technology
BP and Shell announced today that they will join a consortium that seeks to help the natural gas and oil industry continue to improve its environmental performance.

 

The Collaboratory for Advancing Methane Science (CAMS) was begun by Cheniere, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, and Pioneer Natural Resources
to transparently deliver data that allows operators to evaluate the most
effective emissions reduction strategies.

 

The CAMS mission strongly aligns with BP’s steady focus on meeting the dual challenge: more energy with fewer emissions.

 

“Natural gas has a vital role in helping the world transition to a low-carbon future, but we must control methane emissions for it to reach its full potential,” said Susan Dio, chairman and president of BP America. “That’s why we’re taking action to minimize methane emissions in our operations and working through important collaborations like this one to do more.”

 

“Shell continually seeks opportunities to broaden our knowledge related to methane emissions and reducing our environmental footprint,” said Gretchen Watkins, president Shell Oil Company.  “We see CAMS as a unique resource that could help inform and realize our targeted ambition towards lowering our methane emissions along the natural gas value chain.”

 

Pilot project already underway

 

CAMS studies aim to advance the science on when and where methane emissions occur along the natural gas value chain. Recently, the University of Texas-Austin began work on CAMS’s pilot project: an open access oil and gas operations emissions calculator. The open source model will estimate methane emissions at a basin level and help operators evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation strategies.

 

Like other CAMS projects, the study results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, making the data widely available for different stakeholders. In joining CAMS, BP and Shell are signing on to an effort that also complements studies sponsored by the government and universities
across the country.

 

Working to reduce emissions

 

But BP’s involvement with CAMS is only the latest step the company has undertaken to reduce emissions. Earlier this year, BP announced the Upstream Carbon Fund – a $100 million fund for projects that will reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the company’s upstream oil and gas
operations.

 

And last month, BP announced a joint venture with Bunge – a leading agribusiness company – to create a bioenergy company in Brazil, one of the world’s largest markets for biofuels.

 

Finding – and fixing – leaks

 

CAMS’s focus on evaluating new technology that better detects leaks is also familiar to BP. The company recently implemented a drone detection program that combines data with advanced analytics and automated work orders.

 

The result: fewer BP employees driving from site to site – a reduction in carbon emissions in itself – and shorter repair times when leaks are discovered.