Oil and Gas Mitigation
Oil and Gas Methane Regulation
In partnership with the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), CCAP has expanded our work to advance regulatory solutions to limit methane emissions from oil and gas production at a sector scale. Our theory of change is to support developing countries to (1) identify regulatory opportunities to reduce oil and gas sector climate pollution emissions; (2) fill data, legal and technical gaps; and (3) define specific approaches that can be implemented successfully, including through the replication and adaptation of strong examples used elsewhere. Targeting Mexico and other developing countries with oil and gas production, CCAP and CATF are sharing successes and lessons learned from leading government regulators and experts on:
- Best practice measurement technologies and procedures for data collection and analysis;
- Best practice solutions for leak prevention and emissions mitigation;
- Technologies and practices for reducing venting and flaring of associated gas;
- Effective regulatory approaches to ensure adoption of best practice technologies, including approaches to compliance and enforcement;
- Targeted financial investments and tax reform to overcome barriers to private sector investment.
The work also supports countries in developing an emissions baseline so that emissions reductions from the oil and gas sector can be included in plans to implement NDCs and be better evaluated in current GHG inventories and emerging black carbon inventories.
Projects
In Mexico, CCAP is working closely with government contacts at the Energy Ministry (SENER), the Environment Ministry (SEMARNAT), the National Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment (ASEA), the Institute for Ecology and Climate Change (INECC), and the National Hydrocarbon Commission (CNH). We have also engaged industry (PEMEX) and NGOs (Centro Mario Molina, CEMDA and EDF). Going forward, we will reach out to additional developing country governments, especially those that are part of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, to assess their interest and win support for learning from best practice regulatory solutions.
Events
- September 2016 Workshop on Regulatory Options for Methane Mitigation in Mexico’s Oil and Gas Sectors: CCAP and CATF supported the National Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment of Mexico (ASEA) in this workshop to discuss regulations and standards necessary to limit methane emissions from the recently opened oil and gas sector.
- May 2017 Workshop on Methane Emissions in the Mexican Oil and Gas Sector: This workshop focused on baseline emission development, quantification, and reporting, as well as a lengthy discussion on the data provided by national inventories and emission registries and the data gaps that affect the development of regulation.
- August 2017 Workshop on Regulatory Measures to Control and Reduce Methane Emissions in the Mexican Oil and Gas Sector: The workshop, which featured CCAP, CATF and international experts from Environment and Climate Change Canada, California Air Resources Board and a former advisor of the US Bureau of Land Management, focused on regulatory measures for flaring/venting and Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) programs.