MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil will assess the methane emissions from 200 MMcf/d of natural gas output from a section of its Permian Basin holdings, with the potential for expanding the effort to other production fields, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement Sept. 7.
The idea of certifying gas to quantify emissions, meet environmental goals and create new business has spurred similar initiatives across the US upstream and midstream sectors over the last year.
From detailing their carbon footprints to trying to capture carbon before it is released to identifying supplies that are responsibly sourced, companies are mindful of an energy future that will increasingly favor cleaner burning fuels.
ExxonMobil, which more than doubled its Permian position in 2017 through a series of purchases from the Bass family, hired independent validator MiQ to begin the certification process for the selected gas production. Poker Lake, in New Mexico, was chosen in part because of its proximity to nearby markets and the production growth the area holds, ExxonMobil said in a statement.
An MiQ accredited independent auditor performs the assessment, and MiQ issues tradable certificates based on the grade achieved.
ExxonMobil said it is considering expanding certification to include other Permian Basin fields and shale production areas, including the Appalachian Basin in the US Northeast and the Haynesville Shale in Louisiana.
Poker Lake in Eddy County has been a focus of ExxonMobil in the Permian. It started operations last year at its Delaware sub-territory central processing facility to collect oil and gas supply for delivery to US Gulf Coast export markets. The certified gas at Poker Lake could be available to customers by the fourth quarter of this year, ExxonMobil said.
ExxonMobil has previously announced plans to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2025, compared with 2016 levels. The plans include a 15%-20% reduction in GHG intensity of upstream operations.
As MRC wrote before, earlier this year, ExxonMobil slashed its 2025 global oil and gas production estimate to 3.7 million boe/d, even as it focuses on growing output at the Permian Basin and in Guyana. Production will remain flat from 2020 levels through 2025 at 3.7 million boe/d, the company said during its Investor Day 2021 webcast. That is down from the 5 million boe/d production estimate for 2025 ExxonMobil released last year in its 2020 Investor Day, just as the coronavirus was beginning to take its toll on global oil demand and prices.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world"s oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
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