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Stefanie Asher, Technology Integration Manager with ExxonMobil, stands inside the Center for Operations and Methane Emissions Tracking in Houston, which aids in tracking and responding to emissions across Exxon’s 1.8 million Permian Basin acres.
Stefanie Asher, Technology Integration Manager with ExxonMobil, right, looks at data within the Center for Operations and Methane Emissions Tracking in Houston, which aids in tracking and responding to emissions across Exxon’s 1.8 million Permian Basin acres.
One of the sensors ExxonMobil uses to track emissions at its Permian Basin operations, sending data back to the company’s Center for Operations and Methane Emissions Tracking in Houston.
Crew members with ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy work with sensors at one of their production sites in the Permian Basin.
In addition to navigating new and shifting methane emissions regulations, oil and gas producers are navigating new and shifting emissions detection technology.
“It’s very dynamic, a lot of technology, a lot of start-up companies,” agreed Stefanie Asher, technology integration manager at ExxonMobil.
The industry giant is launching an aggressive campaign to achieve net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions from its Permian Basin assets by 2030 and company-wide among its operated assets by 2050. To that end, ExxonMobil has established its Center for Operations and Methane Emissions Tracking (COMET) in Houston, which will monitor sensors in the Permian Basin 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ExxonMobil is embarking on an eight-month project to evaluate 30 emissions-detecting technologies.
“From our perspective, we want proven technology,” Asher said.
As part of the evaluations, the company is installing state-of-the-art technologies across its 1.8 million-acre Permian Basin operations, from satellites and planes to stratospheric balloons to ground-based mobile and fixed-position sensors.
Installing ground sensors was the first step, said Asher, with quantification of emissions the next. That effort is part of the collaboration with Scepter Inc., which will launch a stratospheric balloon early next year to survey ExxonMobil assets as well as satellite and airplane flyovers. The goal is to detect leaks – including “fugitive” methane emissions – and identify potential solutions.
“This is the future of the industry,” stated Asher. “This is not just an Exxon problem, it’s not just an industry problem, it is a global problem.”
She said the company is trying to lead in deploying emissions-detecting technology and doing so through collaboration and sharing best practices. The goal, she added, is to not just deploy technology throughout the oil and gas industry but other industries as well.
One of the main challenges is integration of the data from those various technologies, she said.
“We want to deploy various technologies; we can’t have a single vendor,” she explained. “We also need to integrate the sensor information with operational information. (So) we’re working with partners to develop that platform. We also have proprietary tools that let us monitor emissions. The concept is all the sensors and data are integrated into digital information our center can track.”
Then, she said, the center’s operators can rapidly evaluate and provide meaningful feedback to the operators on the ground to help prioritize operational issues.
The ultimate goal, for Exxon and other operators, is to capture that methane, keep it in pipelines and sell it. Otherwise, Asher noted, it’s a lost value.
There is new technology announced all the time, and Asher said the company is paying attention and may pilot new technology.
“Reducing methane emissions is the most effective and fastest method to address climate change,” she said. “We are committed to being good partners to our customers and also the Earth. We have a public commitment to net-zero.”
It’s also the right thing to do, she said, noting she has a 10-year-old son and wants to leave him and his generation a sustainable world.
Mella McEwen is the Oil Editor for the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
