If we can do it, you can, too.
That’s ExxonMobil’s stance toward other oil companies in the industry-wide emissions control campaign to stop greenhouse gas from polluting the environment.
“We were the first to file an alternative means of emission limitation plan with the Environmental Protection Administration and we have been at the forefront in pushing for enhanced regulations that level the playing field,” said ExxonMobil spokeswoman Meghan Macdonald Wednesday from Irving, west of Dallas.
“The cost-effective, scalable solutions we’ve developed to reduce and better detect emissions would be possible for other industry players, even smaller operators and producers, to replicate.
“Take our continuous methane monitoring program. We’ve invested $1 million in research and pilot projects and through our investments and trial and error we have gotten costs down to less than $30,000 per site.”
Macdonald said her company has more than doubled its production in the Permian Basin since 2019 while reducing methane emissions from its operated assets.
“We have one of industry’s most aggressive plans in the Basin to achieve near-zero methane emissions from our operated assets by 2030,” she said. “ExxonMobil is installing new state-of-the-art technologies across its 1.8 million-acre Permian Basin operations in New Mexico and Texas to assist the company with its detection of and response to methane leaks.
“As a responsible operator, we continue to share best practices for continuous methane monitoring with other operators and researchers. Additionally, we have long advocated for federal regulations as the most effective way to reduce methane emissions at scale.”
Macdonald said her company eliminated all high-bleed pneumatic devices from its U.S. unconventional operations where fracking was used in 2020.
“In the Permian, we plan to complete our pneumatic replacement program by year-end 2023,” she said. “ExxonMobil has made significant strides in reducing flaring in the Permian Basin, bringing down flaring volumes in 2021 by more than 75 percent compared to 2019.
“A Rystad Energy report released in April 2022 recognized us as a top Permian performer in January 2022. We reached a significant milestone at year-end 2022 when we eliminated routine flaring in the Permian, consistent with our support of the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring Initiative.”
