Satellites reveal major new gas industry methane leaks
Last fall, European Space Agency satellites detected huge plumes of the invisible planet-warming gas methane leaking from the Yamal pipeline that carries natural gas from Siberia to Europe. Energy consultancy Kayrros estimated one leak was spewing out 93 tonnes of methane every hour, meaning the daily emissions from the leakage were equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide pumped out in a year by 15,000 cars in the United States. The find, which has not been reported, is part of a growing effort by companies, academics and some energy producers to use space-age technology to find the biggest methane leaks as the potent heat-trapping gas builds up rapidly in the atmosphere. Kayrros, which is analysing the satellite data, said another leak nearby was gushing at a rate of 17 tonnes an hour and that it had informed Yamal’s operator Gazprom about its findings this month. Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the leaks identified by Kayrros. Up to now, estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from industries have relied mainly on paper-based calculations of what’s pouring out of tailpipes and smokestacks, based on the amount of energy consumed by people and businesses. But as satellite technology improves, researchers are starting to stress test the data – and the early results show leaky oil and gas industry infrastructure is responsible for far more of the methane in the atmosphere than previously thought. Such a revelation would heap pressure on energy companies – already targeted by climate activists and investors for their contribution to carbon dioxide emissions – to find and plug methane leaks. The new satellite discoveries of methane leaks could also lead to more stringent regulatory regimes targeting natural gas, once seen as a “clean” fossil fuel, as governments seek to combat climate change, experts say. While scientists generally agree that calculating emissions based on consumption works well for carbon dioxide, it is less reliable for methane, which is prone to unexpected leaks. Methane is also 80 times more potent during its first 20 years in the atmosphere and scientists say that identifying methane sources is crucial to making the drastic emissions cuts needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. “What this now shows is that the avoidance of that fossil leakage actually can have a larger impact than what was anticipated earlier,” said Imperial College London climate scientist Joeri Rogelj, who is one of the authors for reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). PIVOTAL DISCOVERY A study in February’s Nature magazine reinforced the idea that the oil and gas industry produces far more methane than previously thought as it suggested emissions of the gas from natural causes have been significantly overestimated. The findings don’t let farming off the hook – it’s still responsible for a quarter of the methane in the atmosphere – but they suggest mud volcanoes and natural oil and gas seepages have been taking some of the heat for the energy industry’s leaks. Some big oil and gas companies such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell are tackling the issue by investing in satellite companies or signing monitoring deals so they can find and plug their leaks and stick to pledges to slash emissions. The push to detect emissions from the sky began when US advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and universities including Harvard used aerial measurements to show methane leaks from America’s oil and gas heartland were 60 per cent above inventories reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency. That 2018 report was pivotal, said Christophe McGlade, a senior researcher at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “What they found from actual ground and aerial measurements is that the engineering-based approach can really underestimate total emissions,” he said. “Maybe if emissions were higher in the United States than previous estimates, maybe they were higher in other parts of the world too?” A year later, Canadian greenhouse gas monitoring company GHGSat found another major leak at pipeline and compressor infrastructure near the Korpezhe field in Turkmenistan. In an October report, GHGSat estimated the leak released 142,000 tonnes of methane in the 12 months to the end of January 2019 and said then it was the biggest on record. GHGSat said the leak was plugged in April 2019 after state oil company Turkmen Oil was notified. Turkmen Oil officials could not be reached for comment. The company declined to comment when asked about it in November. “That one emission that we found together represents about one million cars taken off the road per year,” said GHGSat founder Stephane Germain. Now, the more recent Kayrros discovery has added to the evidence that undetected methane leaks from the energy industry are a global issue – and a major one. RUSSIA IN THE SPOTLIGHT Kayrros said its analysis of the satellite data showed concentrations of methane around compressor stations along the pipeline linking Russian gasfields to Europe. The Yamal-Europe pipeline stretches 2,000 km (1,250 miles) from Germany through Poland and Belarus to Russia where it joins the 2,200 km SRTO-Torzhok pipeline to Siberia’s gasfields. Gazprom estimated that about 0.29 per cent of the 679 billion cubic metres of gas it moved through its pipeline network escaped as methane emissions in 2019. Yamal has an annual capacity of about 33 billion cubic metres. “These figures correspond to the best global practices,” Gazprom said in a June 10 statement about its emissions. Kayrros also discovered leaks from oil and gas installations in the Sahara Desert in North Africa. “Early results show that the estimates we have been relying on for the last years and decades are probably too low and we’re finding more methane coming out of various industries and regions than we thought was the case,” said Christian Lelong, director for natural resources at Kayrros. McGlade said the IEA increased the projected contributions of several countries in central Asia and North Africa in its Methane Tracker this year because of the satellite detections. He singled out Russia as one country where official
Fuel demand accelerates but new virus wave may slam on the brakes
Fuel demand is gradually recovering as coronavirus lockdown measures ease around the globe but a second wave of infections could swiftly undermine the trend, industry data showed. Road traffic in some of the world’s major cities in June had returned to 2019 levels, data provided to Reuters by location technology company TomTom showed. But a resurgence of the virus in some places prompted drivers to stay home. Congestion in Shanghai in the past few weeks was higher than in the same period last year. But in Beijing mobility dropped again in June as China’s capital took steps to halt a new outbreak of the coronavirus. Traffic in London and New York rose steadily in recent weeks although it remained well below pre-COVID 19 levels, TomTom data showed, while in Moscow it was back at last year’s levels. US gasoline consumption in the second week of April was half the level a year earlier, according to Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), which tracks weekly same-store gasoline volumes at 15,000 fuel stations, while June demand was down just 22 per cent. Gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, rose 9 per cent in the week to June 19 but overall, in the past four weeks, fuel demand was down 17 per cent from the same time a year ago, according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration. A resurgence of coronavirus cases in states such as Arizona and Texas held consumption in check. “While gasoline demand is nearing pre-COVID winter demand levels, we’re still down nearly 19 per cent than a year ago,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of gasoline analysis at GasBuddy. US gasoline demand is typically lowest in winter and usually rises towards the summer, during the so-called driving season, when people normally head off on vacations. “Just because we are nearing pre-COVID levels doesn’t mean we are out of the woods,” DeHaan said. In Italy, oil products consumption in May was 3.64 million tonnes, up 36 per cent from April but 28 per cent below levels a year earlier. Britain, Italy and France recorded year-on-year falls in gasoline demand in April of more than 60 per cent, the heaviest decline in the world according to Standard Chartered. In Spain, the country’s leading fuel distributor CLH Group said demand for its gasoline and diesel was rising, based on figures for withdrawals from its storage facilities. In the week to June 21, gasoline and diesel withdrawals were down 29 per cent and 21 per cent respectively from the same period last year, compared to 34 per cent and 25 per cent lower in the previous week, it said. The figures show a sharp rise in demand from April, when gasoline and diesel withdrawals were 79 per cent and 57 per cent lower year on year. In a further indication of rising demand, Northwest European gasoline refining margins picked up on Wednesday to $4.70 a barrel, the highest since late March. “A stronger gasoline market appears to be helping margins, as we see more economies returning to some form of normality,” said Warren Patterson, ING’s head of commodities strategy, but he said margins were still weak compared to pre-COVID 19 levels. Jet fuel consumption has also showed signs of recovery as European and other countries reopen borders to tourists and travel, although the pace of the rebound has been slower than for gasoline. The number of daily flights around the globe rose to 52,000 on Wednesday, compared to a low point on April 12 when the number of flights fell to 24,000, according to global plane tracking website Flightradar24. In February, there were more than 100,000 daily flights. Wood Mackenzie analyst Yuwei Pei said her consultancy expected a slow recovery for jet fuel demand in China, even though economic activity had largely returned to normal. “The recovery to pre-crisis levels will not occur until the beginning of 2021,” she said.
Petrol price crosses Rs 80-mark in Delhi for first time since 2018, diesel at new high
Petrol price in the national capital on Friday crossed Rs 80 per litre mark, for the first time in more than two years, as oil companies continue to raise petrol and diesel prices in line with costs. Oil companies hiked petrol price by 21 paise per litre and diesel by 17 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 80.13 per litre from Rs 79.92 while diesel rates were increased to Rs 80.19 a litre from Rs 80.02. Rates have been increased across the country but the final retail selling price differs from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT. In Mumbai, petrol is priced at Rs 86.91 per litre and diesel at Rs 78.51. Petrol price has crossed Rs 80-mark for the first time in more than two years, while diesel rate is at an all-time high. Petrol had last crossed Rs 80 mark in September 2018. While diesel price has been hiked for the 20th straight day, petrol price has been raised on 19 occasions in less than three weeks. The cumulative increase since the oil companies started the cycle on June 7 now totals to Rs 8.87 for petrol and Rs 10.8 in diesel. Diesel had for the first time become costlier than petrol in Delhi on Wednesday. However, diesel is costlier than petrol only in the national capital where the state government had raised local sales tax or VAT on the fuel sharply last month. It costs less than petrol in other cities. On June 7, oil companies restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus during which they adjusted steep excise duty hikes by the government against the fall in benchmark international oil rates.