US clears $189 million loan to fund real-time methane oil monitoring
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The Department of Energy’s loan office, on Friday, conditionally approved a $189 million loan to facilitate the establishment of a methane monitoring network in crucial oil-producing basins.
This network aims to provide real-time data for tens of thousands of oil and gas sites, with the potential to mitigate the release of at least 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Long Path Technologies, based in Houston, will utilize the loan to implement its Emissions Overwatch System across 24,000 square miles (62,160 square km) in multiple states.
The technology involves the use of lasers, positioned on 50-foot (15-meter) towers, to monitor areas for methane leaks.
In contrast to optical gas imaging, which takes infrequent methane measurements, the Long Path system can continuously monitor 8-square-mile (21-square km) areas.
This allows for updates every two hours and immediate notification to operators in case of a leak, as reported by the DOE’s Loan Program Office.
Among Long Path’s existing subscribers are prominent entities in the oil and gas industry, including Conoco Phillips and the pipeline company Williams.
The DOE announced that the loan represents the Biden administration’s most recent initiative to address methane, a potent and short-lived greenhouse gas that can escape undetected from drilling sites, gas pipelines, and other equipment in the oil and gas industry.
Given that methane possesses greater warming potential than carbon dioxide and breaks down more rapidly in the atmosphere, efforts to control methane emissions can have a more immediate impact on mitigating climate change.
Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced regulations to forbid the routine flaring of natural gas produced by recently drilled oil wells.
These rules also require oil companies to actively monitor for leaks from well sites and compressor stations.
Moreover, the framework introduces a program that utilizes third-party remote sensing to detect substantial methane releases from notable “super emitters” in areas like the Permian Basin.
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