A recommended policy for CCAC oil and gas demonstration projects

This document defines the course of action that has been taken to progressively work towards achieving real reductions in emissions of short lived climate pollutants at oil and gas facilities in Mexico, Colombia and Nigeria.  

The work in Mexico has been building on previous work done in that jurisdiction through the Global Methane Initiative (GMI), the Global Gas Faring Reduction (GGFR) Partnership, Fast Start Funding provided by Environment Canada, as well gas significant in-kind and cash contributions by Clearstone Engineering Ltd. These activities comprised capacity building achieved through technical exchanges including workshops, field demonstrations and study tours, as well as measurement programs and prefeasibility studies to identify specific cost effective opportunities to reduce emissions of SLCPs. 

The work in Colombia has followed a similar path. Key elements to achieving progress in each country have included the following: 

• Working with the technical experts from each participating oil and gas company to strategically focus on areas of interest to them that are also most likely to identify significant opportunities for cost-effective SLCP emission reductions. These types of opportunities can be attractive either because they are large and practicable to manage on an individual basis, or because they are smaller and more manageable in size as well as highly replicable.
• Targeting vent and flare gas reduction opportunities involving streams rich in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as these streams are more valuable making emission reductions more practicable to achieve, which is particularly important given the current low energy prices. Additionally, the VOCs tend to promote black carbon emissions when the gas is burned (e.g., by flaring or as fuel), and they are also an important pollutant affecting local air quality both as an air toxic and .a precursor to tropospheric ozone formation.
• Disseminating results, particularly to senior management to gain their support. Both top-down support and working level interest are critical to achieving a successful outcome.