ExxonMobil Announces More Efforts to Cut Methane Emissions
XTO recently completed a pilot project in the Midland Basin that tested new low-emission designs that use compressed air instead of natural gas to operate pneumatic equipment that helps regulate conditions such as level, flow, pressure, and temperature
ExxonMobil on Sept. 27 announced additional efforts to reduce methane emissions from its production and midstream facilities across the United States, saying the new program "builds on the company's longstanding commitment to emissions reduction, prioritizes actions at sites operated by subsidiary XTO Energy and includes efforts to develop and deploy new, more efficient technologies to detect and reduce facility emissions."
"We are implementing an enhanced leak detection and repair program across our production and midstream sites to continually reduce methane emissions and are also evaluating opportunities to upgrade facilities and improve efficiency at both current and future sites," said XTO president Sara Ortwein. "Our comprehensive initiative is underscored by a technology research and testing effort and includes personnel training, equipment phase-out, and facility design improvements."
The program includes a commitment by the company to phase out high-bleed pneumatic devices over three years; XTO recently completed a pilot project in the Midland Basin that tested new low-emission designs that use compressed air instead of natural gas to operate pneumatic equipment that helps regulate conditions such as level, flow, pressure, and temperature, according to the announcement, which also said XTO's efforts include research conducted with ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company and third-party equipment manufacturers to continue developing more efficient equipment to detect and reduce emissions at production sites, and more than two dozen methane research projects and pilots are now under way.