In many situations, preventing methane emissions can yield attractive returns. For some operators, participating in voluntary programs, such as the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP 2.0), is unlocking lucrative markets that pay high premiums for gas they know was produced with a low greenhouse gas intensity.

However, the opportunity for profit extends well beyond companies with particularly low emissions and a desire to access international markets. Leak detection, quantification and repair programs can pay for themselves quickly while demonstrating a company’s commitment to preserving the environment.

According to David Bercovich, chief executive officer of Insight M, addressing major leaks has a huge environmental impact. “One percent of sites produce 80% of a production or midstream company’s methane emissions,” he explains. “It’s a long tail distribution, with a few significant leaks driving most of a company’s emissions for an entire year.”

Although some sites may be more likely to leak than others, it is difficult to pinpoint which sites will experience major leaks in advance, Bercovich says. Pads with similar equipment can have diverging emissions profiles, and even new, well-maintained facilities can encounter issues that contribute to leaks.

Finding leaks requires casting a wide net from the outset, Bercovich advises. He encourages companies to survey their entire asset base periodically, with older or historically leak-prone sites checked more frequently.

To perform broad surveys at an affordable cost, many companies now rely on aerial surveys, Bercovich says. “For surveying hundreds of well pads or thousands of miles of pipe, there is no other technology that is as efficient or as capable of finding the major emission sources, which really are needles in a haystack,” he states.

Broad Coverage

Because plane-based surveys are so cost-effective, Bercovich says Insight M can fly over entire basins rather than restricting its industry-friendly detection efforts to specific operators’ assets. “We covered 96% of the Permian in 2024, and that number will be even higher this year,” he illustrates.

“For our surveys, we use a powerful instrument that enables us to fly at 6,000 feet above ground but still detect leaks reliably,” Bercovich describes. “The flight pattern resembles a lawn mower moving across a lawn in the sense that we go down one way, then come back. On the ground, each swath is more than a mile wide.”

Surveying entire basins makes benchmarking possible. “For example, we can tell an operator that it is ranked seventh out of the 86 companies in the basin that meet the production criteria for inclusion,” Bercovich says. “However, everything we do from a basin-wide perspective is anonymous. We would never discuss a specific company’s performance or publish the entire list of operators, because we do not want to be involved in the name and shame game.” 

Aerial surveys excel at finding leaks and other unexpected emission sources across vast swaths of land, enabling companies to fix them quickly. By tailoring survey frequency to their assets’ characteristics and selectively deploying site-specific upgrades to detect or prevent many potential emission events, upstream and midstream companies are rapidly reducing the methane intensity of their operations.

Unfortunately, Bercovich reflects, people who take energy for granted seem all too eager to play that role. “Scrutiny on the industry is going through the roof,” he says. “There will be more than 50 methane-tracking satellites in orbit by 2027, and we see articles targeting operators for specific leaks all the time. That is one of the reasons we have created our brand guardian program, through which we use our data to help customers disprove false allegations.”

When a leak does originate at a company’s facility, Bercovich says Insight M can put it in perspective. “We can use our benchmarking information and other data to show that an operator is one of the better operators, to the extent that is true,” he explains.

Although many journalists have a dim view of the oil and gas industry, Bercovich says reputable ones take Insight M’s information into account. “Not long ago, we had a customer call us saying that a reporter from a major news outlet planned to publish an article about a leak,” he relates. “After we got the details, we talked with the reporter and demonstrated that the leak originated outside the customer’s facility, killing the story.”

If the company notices a particularly large leak or one that could put people at risk, it will reach out to the asset owner so the leak can be fixed, even if that owner is not a customer, Bercovich mentions.

Bercovich says the industry is significantly reducing emissions. For example, a study that Insight M did with S&P Global Commodity Insights found that Permian Basin methane emissions fell 26% from 2022 to 2023.

Making Money

That rapid progress has been fueled partly by the simple motives of capitalism. “When companies focus on addressing substantial leaks, methane mitigation is profitable,” Bercovich says. “On average, across our customer base, every dollar put into aerial methane mitigation yields $10 in sales. Our average customer saves more than $5 million each year.” 

With the right sensors, planes offer a fast and affordable way to check fields and pipeline networks for leaks, Insight M reports. Even at altitudes as high as 6,000 feet, the planes can pick up significant concentrations of methane, including the large leaks responsible for most of the industry’s emissions.

This return can be magnified by simplifying regulatory compliance, Bercovich says. He notes that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the company’s technology for screening sites under OOOOa and OOOOb, a task normally performed by dispatching trained crews equipped with optical gas imaging cameras.

As efficient as the flights can be, Bercovich says it’s still important to optimize the programs. “By drawing on our large database of past emissions, we have created a simulator that looks at 10 million scenarios to predict a company’s emissions for the year,” he says. “Based on that information and the company’s goals and resource constraints, we will work with the operator to make data-driven recommendations about their methane mitigation investments.”

The factors these recommendations consider include the value of gas, repair costs and the operator’s goals, Bercovich says. If an operator wants to maximize profits or prevent as many emissions as possible with a given budget, the best strategies typically concentrate on the largest leaks, Bercovich indicates.

“Our sensitivity ranges from leaks as small as 10 kilograms an hour all the way up to 100 kilograms an hour, and customers can select from a series of offerings within that range,” he says. “That is important, because it enables customers to be efficient with their budgets and repair crews. The lower the detection threshold, the more leaks we can find. However, finding a small leak has limited value if the operator cannot get a crew out to fix it in a timely manner.”

With resource constraints in mind, Bercovich says many operators elect to spend their budget on less sensitive but more frequent surveys. “Since most of a company’s yearly emissions come from a few events, finding the biggest leaks quickly can do more to reduce total emissions than more thorough but less common checks,” he explains. “In a world of Super Emitter response programs and Waste Emission Charges, it’s also extremely valuable to backstop the duration of leaks others detect by sharing data from a recent survey that took place before the leak began.”

Simplifying Responses

To minimize false alarms or false negatives, Insight M’s workflow uses a combination of machine learning and human review, Bercovich describes. He adds that the company pairs the emissions data with optical images, allowing analysts and end users to distinguish between routine emissions and leaks. “For example, if there are trucks on site, that is a clue to check the maintenance log to see if the emissions come from planned maintenance,” he says.

Over time, Bercovich predicts that emissions data will be tightly integrated with other systems. “Operators have to do so much more than find leaks,” he says. “They have to collect data from all the emissions detection systems they are using, then tie that data into maintenance workflows to repair leaks and into finance systems to file regulatory reports.”

To accelerate that integration, Insight M has partnered with SensorUp, an emissions management platform that works with a variety of detection technologies and SCADA systems, as well as with SAP, IBM Maximo and other enterprise resource planning systems.

Integrating data from a variety of detection technologies matters because there is no universal solution for emissions management, Bercovich notes. He says the Insight M simulations consider other technologies as they formulate recommendations on the best way to monitor a client’s asset base.

“Satellites have a lower sensitivity than aerial surveys, but can provide similarly broad coverage,” he illustrates. “There are also site-specific technologies, such as continuous monitoring systems, that we have put into our model so it can suggest hybrid programs when those make sense. For example, we have seen strong returns on investment when operators use permanent sensors to watch equipment that is likely to have emissions.”

Continuous Monitoring

Interest in continuous monitoring is growing, reports Burt Stringer, vice president of Sytelink360™, a remote monitoring and management business segment of Cimarron Energy that focuses on detecting emissions and optimizing equipment. “Regulations have been driving interest in monitoring emissions, but many operators are making those investments for economic reasons,” he says. “The more gas they keep in the pipeline, the more they can sell.”

AI-powered permanent monitoring systems can detect and quantify leaks almost as soon as they appear, then alert the teams responsible for repairs. On many sites, these systems deliver attractive returns by keeping more gas in the sales line and simplifying regulatory compliance, Cimarron Energy says.

Although the new administration may loosen some of the federal regulations, Stringer says the economic incentive to mitigate methane should grow with time. He points out that Europe has passed regulations that set methane intensity standards for any liquified natural gas it imports. Many Asian buyers also want to demonstrate that they have a low-emissions supply chain.

“One of our customers is using our continuous monitoring technology alongside tools from other companies to demonstrate an extremely low methane intensity. As a result, it is earning a substantial premium for its gas,” Stringer relates. “Gunvor, one of the largest gas traders in the world, is seeing more demand for that type of gas than there is supply.”

Even without such premiums, Stringer says deploying permanent OGI cameras, sensors and other continuous monitoring systems to catch leaks quickly can pay for itself in a few months. On many sites, he explains, deploying continuous monitoring systems for a month is comparable in cost to a single leak detection and repair survey using handheld OGI cameras. However, because they operate 24/7 in rain or shine, the automated systems can catch leaks much more quickly.

“Every time we go to the site to demonstrate the cameras’ capabilities, we find an unexpected leak,” Stringer says. “In one recent example, we found a significant leak on a site that had been surveyed using manual cameras three days before we got there.”

The return on investment from continuous monitoring usually rises with total production, Stringer says. As a rule of thumb, he suggests investigating permanent OGI cameras if a site has five or more wells.

Tireless Sentinel

Before deploying cameras, Stringer says Cimarron usually creates a digital twin of the site that shows all the equipment it contains, then does some modeling to determine the best locations for the camera to watch most of the potential leak points. Those points include tanks, flares, separators and piping, Stringer says.

“On most upstream locations of the size we work on, it takes 11 stops for the system to check the site’s equipment,” he explains. “The system will pause at each stop for two minutes to pick up any leaks, then move to the next stop. The entire cycle takes less than 30 minutes, so when a leak occurs, the camera will catch it quickly.”

In response to a leak, the system generates a notification that includes a still image and a two-minute video. Users who need more information can control the camera remotely, Stringer says.

“The AI model that detects the leaks has been trained with millions of hours of video and emissions events, so we do not worry about false positives,” he says. “If there is an area we know will have emissions, such as the space where a large compressor engine exhausts, we can tell the system to ignore that area.”

The same training means the system is unlikely to miss a leak, Stringer assures. He adds that the cameras can quantify leaks and connect to operations and maintenance systems, allowing teams to prioritize repairs and complete them efficiently.

In addition to emissions, the system can also detect liquids. “We have always been able to flag rapid or high-pressure spills, but today we can also track more gradual ones,” Stringer reports. “If a small rain puddle grows 10% because of a tiny leak in a nearby tank, the system will pick up the growth and alert the operator.”

As with emissions, Stringer says the camera generally notices spills within 30 minutes. “This lets the operator take care of the leak quickly, before it impacts the environment or gets big enough to qualify as a reportable spill,” he says.

Optimizing VRUs

To improve the uptime and reliability of vapor recovery units, Stringer says Cimarron has become one of the few companies to apply physics-based machine learning to guide VRU maintenance. “By tracking several factors, such as the variable frequency drive’s power consumption, we can spot issues early and fine-tune preventative maintenance,” he outlines. “In the field, the tailored PM programs are decreasing maintenance and oil consumption by 12%-22%.”

Those reductions add up to significant savings, Stringer reports. A company in the Eagle Ford increased its VRU uptime from less than 60% to 99.2%. “Before, they would have to put extra VRUs on each location to account for downtime,” he recalls. “Today, they are moving those units to new locations because they no longer need the redundancy.

“In the Permian, we had a similar situation where an operator has managed to increase the uptime of its VRUs into the upper 90s,” he says. “By keeping the internal fleet up and running, the operator was able to release 13 rental units, which saved them $500,000 a year.”

Flare Control

Flares that end up operating outside their design window because of out-of-date configurations or inadequate maintenance can perform poorly and become major emission sources, Stringer warns. To prevent those situations, EPA regulations now require operators to track and report flare operating parameters more closely. In response, he says Cimarron has modified one of its controllers for air-assisted flares to capture the necessary information, which includes the net heating value of the waste stream and the diluted stream.

“We have also adapted the controller to gas-assisted flares,” Stringer continues. “It gives the flares the precise amount of assist gas they need to operate, preventing them from causing excess emissions by burning more gas than necessary or failing to burn the gas they should.”

Air-assisted flares also need precise air control to prevent under- or over-aeration, Stringer advises. “Over-aeration, which blows the methane and volatile organic compounds past the flare tip before they have a chance to combust, is a bigger problem than under-aeration because it is difficult to see,” he says. “With under-aeration, smoke will come out of the flare, but with over-aeration, everything looks pretty to the naked eye. You need training or a methane detector to know something is off.”

To refine its control algorithms for air- and gas-assisted flares, Stringer says Cimarron is working with the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project Agency and Brigham Young University to link data from an OGI camera with the controller. “After the controller makes adjustments, the camera will look at the results in real time and tell the controller whether it needs to move up or down,” Stringer describes. “This should keep the flare’s destruction efficiency above 99%.”

Stringer points out that the EPA requires operators to test flare efficiency once every five years or any time a major change occurs. The classic way to do that involves collecting samples from the site twice a day to determine net heating values. “The corruption rate on these samples is high, and if any sample is corrupted, the two-week process has to restart,” he says.

“We are simplifying flare efficiency testing using a camera that can calculate the flare’s destruction efficiency and the flow rate automatically,” Stringer explains. “Instead of sending someone to site multiple times a day, which adds up to a lot of road miles, we can drive out once to set up the camera, monitor it remotely, and pick it up in 14 days. That frees up a lot of manpower for other tasks.”

Capturing Valve Exhaust

Among other changes, Quad O prohibits almost all sites from using pneumatic valves that vent gas to the atmosphere. While it’s possible to install emission-free electric valves or to operate the pneumatics with air, that is prohibitively expensive on the many sites that lack electricity or have marginal wells, assesses Tim Westmoreland, head of sales at Cordova Methane Controls.

Westmoreland says to make Quad O compliance more affordable, Cordova has developed a system that collects and repurposes exhaust gas from the existing pneumatic valves. “We work with the components the site already has,” he emphasizes. “Instead of replacing pneumatic valves with electric ones or installing an air compressor that will need periodic maintenance, we let them use the components they are familiar with by capturing their exhaust gas and reusing it. There is no electricity required.

Cordova Methane Controls says this manifold is the heart of a system for capturing and repurposing gas that would normally vent from pneumatic valves. By intercepting the gas, it eliminates the need to replace the valves or install air compressors, allowing sites with limited production and no electricity to meet environmental regulations at a low cost.

“The cost varies from site to site, but it is very economical for our customers,” Westmoreland says. “The system usually only takes two or three hours to set up, and we can do the work without pausing production or blowing down separators.”

Installation only requires common hand tools, such as crescent wrenches and sometimes tubing cutters or benders, notes Derek Moore, who developed the technology several years ago and founded Cordova Methane Controls in 2023 to promote it. “We can handle the installation, or if the customer is on a lean budget, we can train their operators to take care of it. Either way, the installations are quick. It’s nothing for us to cover 500-700 wells in a few months.”

Once the system is in place, it requires almost no maintenance, Westmoreland adds. He says the system’s main component is an aluminum manifold containing stainless steel valves and fluorosilicone seals. The tubing that brings exhaust gas to and from the manifold can be made from flexible materials to simplify installation or from stainless steel to better withstand sunlight.

To qualify as eliminating pneumatic valve emissions, the system must put the gas to beneficial use rather than merely combusting it, Westmoreland notes. On many sites, the exhaust helps keep the pilot for a separator, dehydrator, enclosed combustor or flare running, Westmoreland says. He stresses that the exhaust gas displaces the supply gas that normally goes to the pilot, meaning no increase in total consumption. On other sites, the exhaust helps power catalytic heaters, traditional electric generators or thermoelectric generators, or is diverted to vapor recovery units, Westmoreland says.

The exhaust travels to the reuse point because it retains some pressure. “When we explain how the system works, producers always ask whether it creates so much backpressure that it keeps valves open after they should close,” Moore relates. “We prevent that from happening by balancing the valves.

“On most sites, the diaphragm valves use a spring on top to hold the valve closed until the control gas enters, expands the diaphragm and forces the spring upward, which opens the valve,” he describes. “When it’s time for the valve to close, we send the exhaust gas to the other side of the diaphragm and use it to help the spring compress the diaphragm. That process ensures the valve closes.

“As it helps the spring close the valve, the exhaust gas loses some of its pressure,” Moore continues. “However, it still retains enough pressure to travel through the manifold and into the reuse point’s gas stream without assistance from a compressor or other equipment that would require power.”

A standard manifold can collect and forward exhaust gas from up to eight valves. According to Westmoreland, the reuse point sets the ceiling on how much gas the system can handle. “A typical pilot only needs 330 cubic feet of gas a day, so if we want to connect several valves to it, we have to run some calculations to make sure they will stay under the limit,” he says. “However, if the manifold is connected to a vapor recovery unit, we generally have an unlimited opportunity to direct the exhaust gas to sales.”

Because of its low cost, fast installation and reliability, Moore says that most companies who try the exhaust gas capture system end up installing it on several sites. “We have more than 10,000 in the field. They are operating everywhere from California to Texas, the Rocky Mountains and the Marcellus,” he details.

Moore adds that Cordova spent last year building its inventory to ensure it could meet operators’ needs as Quad Oc comes into effect this year.

Pilot and Main Burner Monitor

When pilots in the burner systems of processing equipment go out as a result of wind, plugged orifices or other factors, they no longer combust gas and the emissions can be significant, Moore warns. To prevent these emissions, burner management systems detect when the pilot stops working, and then attempt to restart it. If that fails, the systems isolate the pilot and main burner to keep them from receiving gas.

Unfortunately, Moore says a full BMS can be too expensive to add to legacy sites. “We have developed an economical alternative that recognizes when the flame goes out and uses pneumatic principles to shut off the gas supply to both the pilot and the main burner,” he says. “It does not require power to operate, and like the exhaust gas capture system, it is easy to install and maintain.”

On most sites, installation takes about an hour or two, Moore details. As with the exhaust system, the work can be performed by Cordova or company operators that it has trained.

Unlike a true BMS, the more economical system will not restart the burner. “Our goal is to prevent methane emissions,” he says. “In many cases, those emissions can exceed 100 kilograms an hour, the threshold to qualify as Super Emitters. If a third party detects those emissions and informs the EPA, operators could potentially face significant fines.”

Because of the high risk, many companies install the burner monitor even on sites with robust remote monitoring, Moore reports. “For instance, a small operator in Colorado had cameras watching all its location,” he says. “Last year, winds picked up and blew out three pilots. Although the cameras let the operator notice quickly, the operator still decided to put our monitors on every site so they would not have to worry about emissions occurring as someone traveled to site to fix the issue.”