Oil and gas producers in Canada must control releases of methane from major facilities—and stop venting from hydraulically fractured wells—under new regulations from the federal government.
The aim is to lower emissions of the greenhouse gas from 2012 levels by 40-45% by 2025.
The regulations require specific industry action as early as 2020, with full implementation by the end of 2023. They allow provinces to impose their own regulations if they are at least as stringent as those in the federal program.
The federal regulations apply to upstream oil and gas “facilities that handle significant volumes of gas,” according to the government.
Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the federal regulations require:
• Implementation of a leak detection and repair program.
• Inspections for leaks three times per year and corrective action when leaks are found.
• Annual measurements of emissions of natural gas from compressor vents and corrective action when emissions are higher than applicable limits.
• A halt to venting of natural gas from well completions involving hydraulic fracturing and the use instead of conservation of gas for reuse on site or for sale or flaring and clean incineration.
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the regulations require:
• For venting from general production facilities, a limit of 1,250 cu m/month of natural gas coupled with conservation of gas for reuse on site or for sale or flaring and clean incineration.
• For venting from pneumatic devices, a limit of 0.17 cu m/hr of natural gas coupled with conservation of gas for reuse on site or for sale, or replacement with nonemitting or low-emitting bleed pneumatic devices.