methane management
Methane management is critical in the journey to a lower carbon future. We’ve set a 2028 methane target of 2 kilograms CO₂-equivalent per barrel, which is a 50% reduction from our 2016 baseline.
We’re also expanding our methane-detection capabilities to help us focus on the best opportunities to further lower emissions. In addition to traditional ground sensors, we’re deploying airborne sensors using satellites, aircraft, and drones to achieve broader coverage. Better methane-detection capability is critical to the world’s effort to reduce carbon emissions, and our work with industry and academic partners is an important contribution to the accuracy and credibility of global methane reporting.
Examples include Tengizchevroil (TCO), where we’re using satellite technology to survey the production facilities. In the Permian Basin, we’re collaborating in aerial flyovers that cover thousands of sites. In the DJ Basin, we’re partnering in a university study that includes modeling, aerial flyovers, and site visits to validate and improve methane detection. We’re also developing aerial campaigns for the Gulf of Mexico and Argentina.
Flaring Management
Reducing flaring is also a focus area. We’re working to reduce overall flaring by more than 60%. We’re also proud to be an endorser to the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative.
We flare natural gas only when necessary for safety and operational purposes and in areas where pipelines and other alternatives for transporting gas do not exist. Our 2028 Upstream carbon intensity target includes a specific target for flaring intensity of 3.0 kg CO2e/boe, which is a 66% reduction from our 2016 baseline. Our 2028 Upstream carbon intensity target includes a specific target for flaring intensity of 3.0 kg CO2e/boe, which is a 66% reduction from our 2016 baseline. Since 2016, we have reduced flaring across Chevron by more than 50%. In the Permian Basin, we are an industry leader in reducing flaring. We consider gas-takeaway availability in development planning, just as we would a permitting condition. This integrated approach to operations promotes gathering and takeaway systems that operate reliably, efficiently, and in coordination with production teams, resulting in some of the lowest methane intensities among those operating in the Permian Basin.
Internationally, we also look at ways to reduce flaring. For example, our Angola LNG joint venture was built to provide a use for associated gas. We have reduced flaring GHG emissions from our operated assets in Angola by more than 80% since 2016, contributing to the elimination of routine gas flaring in the country.
Some examples of our partnerships and associations include:
Project Canary well certification
In early 2022, we announced a one-year pilot with Project Canary to enhance our ability to demonstrate transparency in how we are lowering methane emissions in our operations. Project Canary will use its comprehensive TrustWell™ Certification program to review and analyze the environmental and social performance aspects of individual wells and facilities in Colorado and Texas.
The Environmental Partnership
Chevron is a founding partner of The Environmental Partnership, an industry initiative aimed at accelerating the adoption of practices that reduce methane emissions. To date, companies in this initiative have conducted more than 770,000 leak detection surveys and replaced more than 27,000 pneumatic controllers with lower- or non-emitting technologies. In December 2020, The Environmental Partnership adopted a program to advance best practices that reduce flare volumes, promote beneficial use of associated gas, improve flare reliability and efficiency when flaring does occur, and collect data to calculate flare intensity as the key metric to gauge progress from year to year. Recently, the Environmental Partnership collaborated with several aerial survey technology providers, including the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/University of Arizona, GHGSat, Bridger Photonics and Kairos Aerospace.
Project ASTRA: Advancing Next Generation Methane Innovation
Chevron is a participant in Project ASTRA, a partnership led by the University of Texas at Austin that aims to demonstrate a novel approach to measuring methane emissions from oil and gas production sites, using advanced technologies to help minimize releases into the atmosphere. Project ASTRA will establish a sensor network that will leverage advances in methane-sensing technologies, data sharing, and data analytics to provide near-continuous monitoring.
World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring Initiative
Collaboratory to Advance Methane Science (CAMS) and Methane Emissions Test and Evaluation Center (METEC)
Chevron is a founding member of CAMS, a joint industry project to conduct peer-reviewed research around methane emissions. Recent CAMS projects include an aerial survey to understand sources in the Permian Basin and the first measurement study of methane emissions from LNG transport activities. Chevron also serves on the Industrial Advisory Board of the METEC, a facility that provides realistic oil field settings to test new methane detection and abatement technologies and supports the Methane Guiding Principles.
World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Public-Private Partnership (GGFR)
Chevron is an active participant in the World Bank’s GGFR voluntary standard. The GGFR recently partnered with the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines to develop a transparent web platform to support real-time mapping and tracking of global gas flaring data. Chevron supported a $1 million commitment to this partnership through our membership in the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI).
Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI)
OGCI member companies, including Chevron, have a methane-intensity target to reduce collective average upstream methane intensity to 0.20% as a share of marketed gas by 2025. As of October 2020, member companies’ collective methane intensity was 0.23%.
