Exxon Mobil Corp. initially failed to report the extreme greenhouse gas methane release in the Permian Basin that occurred in early February, in violation of state rules.
Incidents at the company’s facility in New Mexico were reported after reviewing third-party satellite imagery. Exxon is the largest US operator to publicly admit errors in its emissions reporting as high-resolution satellite imagery of methane concentrations has become more widely available. in the past few months. It also comes at a sensitive time after Exxon revealed last week that the Justice Department could order a fine over the Ohio well explosion that caused a massive methane leak in 2018.
The White House has been pursuing new policies that empower private citizens to monitor oil wells and pipelines for leaks. This is part of an enhanced agenda to limit emissions of methane, the main component of natural gas that is more than 80 times more likely to cause warming than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years in the atmosphere. Methane is responsible for about 30% of Earth’s warming since the Industrial Revolution, and halting release could do more to slow climate change than most measures. other single.
Exxon blamed the failure to initially notify regulators when the leak was discovered on February 5 on human error, saying someone forgot to fill out a form. “We sent a notice to the state regulator, however, our records were unfortunately sent after the required reporting period,” the company said in a statement. Exxon this week revised the filing, amending the count to 529,000 cubic feet from 448,000 cubic feet.
Operators in New Mexico with emergency or incidental leaks exceeding 500,000 cubic feet must notify regulators orally or by email within 24 hours and must submit a more detailed description of the leak. events within 15 days. Issues under 500,000 cubic feet require only 15 days’ notice.
On February 24, Bloomberg Green shared with Exxon satellite images taken on February 5 near the company’s Big Eddy Unit 156 in New Mexico. The images, taken from NASA’s EMIT imaging spectrometer aboard the International Space Station, appear to show a cloud of methane enveloping the facility. Exxon notified state regulators of the release from the facility about five hours after Bloomberg emailed the company.
“How the rules are set up in places like New Mexico is up to you,” said Andrew Logan, senior director of Ceres, a nonprofit coalition of investors and companies that advocates for sustainability. in self-assessment and self-reporting companies. “There is a strong case that third-party monitoring has a strong role to play, especially as satellite data has improved visibility into what is happening in the oil field.”
The Petroleum Conservation Division (OCD) of the New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources told Bloomberg Green that it is investigating the methane cloud and the February 5 methane cloud. discovered by NASA and other organizations to assess operator compliance. OCD officials also conducted a physical inspection of the site.
Exxon is the third US operator this year to report gas releases to state regulators after Bloomberg shared with the companies satellite images that appeared to show recent releases. their base. The Texas-based company, which reported a record $59 billion profit for 2022 earlier this year, says it is working to improve its advanced monitoring and mitigation system it says will help them achieve its net zero emissions target in the Permian Basin by 2030.
Exxon’s 2018 well explosion in Ohio was tracked by a team of scientists using satellites. The researchers estimate the explosion emitted more methane in 20 days than the entire Norwegian oil and gas industry emits in a year, based on reported emissions of the nation. Exxon’s XTO unit issued a warning about possible fines from the DOJ in a regulatory filing, saying it “completely disagrees” with the department’s initial position and that it is evaluating “the factual basis of the charge and any related penalties”.
The February 5 release in New Mexico, which was caused by a ruptured coupling on a high-pressure gas pipeline, was significantly smaller. According to Bloomberg calculations, the short-term climate impact would be roughly equivalent to annual emissions from about 170 US cars.
Under the Biden Administration’s Hyper-Emissions Response Program, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, individuals with agency-approved expertise and equipment would be authorized to oversee oil industry operations. gas for strong greenhouse gas emissions and notify companies of any large volume leaks. Operators will have five days to analyze any trusted third-party methane reports and 10 days to fix most leaks.
Earlier this year, New Mexico said it had opened an investigation after a high-resolution satellite appeared to show a cloud of methane gas near an APA Corp oil and gas facility. Separately, Texas regulators said in February that they were investigating why pipeline operator Targa Resources Corp. In both cases, the operators filed emissions reports after being contacted by Bloomberg with satellite images.
