The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced new rules intended to reduce methane releases on public lands.
According to a Nov. 28 news release, the proposed rule would generate $39.8 million a year in additional royalties for the American public and prevent billions of cubic feet of gas from being wasted through venting, flaring and leaks, boosting efficiency.
“The Biden-Harris administration has taken unprecedented action to tackle methane emissions and support a clean energy economy – this proposed rule will bring our regulations in line with technological advances that industry has made in the decades since the BLM’s rules were first put in place, while providing a fair return to taxpayers," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the release.
The proposed rule would require the use of “low-bleed” pneumatic equipment as well as vapor recovery for oil storage tanks, where economically feasible. These requirements would reduce losses of natural gas from pneumatic equipment and storage tanks on federal and Indian leases.
“No one likes to waste natural resources from our public lands. This draft rule is a common-sense, environmentally responsible solution as we address the damage that wasted natural gas causes. It puts the American taxpayer first and ensures producers pay appropriate royalties,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in the release. “We look forward to hearing from the public on this proposal.”
According to the rule, operators are required to maintain a leak detection and repair program for operations on federal and Indian leases. Waste minimization plans require applicants to develop waste minimization plans demonstrating the capacity of available pipeline infrastructure to take the anticipated associated gas production. The BLM may delay action on, or ultimately deny, a permit to drill to avoid excessive flaring of associated gas.
Monthly limits on flaring place time and volume limits on royalty-free flaring, according to the proposed rule. Importantly, this includes a monthly volume limit on royalty-free flaring due to pipeline capacity constraints — the primary cause of flaring from federal and Indian leases.
According to NPR, a September report showed that flaring at oil fields does not reduce the amount of methane released into the environment. In fact, it emits nearly five times the amount that people expect from the process.
"Our findings indicate that flaring is responsible for five times more methane entering the atmosphere than we previously thought," said Genevieve Plant, lead author and assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan, according to NPR.
