Comparing the emission reduction effectiveness of continuous monitoring to periodic Optical Gas Imaging surveys for methane emissions at oil and gas production sites

Periodic methane emission screening using Optical Gas Imaging (OGI), or other short duration emission detection methods, is used at oil and gas facilities to detect and mitigate leaks and large emission events. Use of continuous monitoring systems can provide more rapid detection of emission events than periodic screening and, if responses to the detection of large emission events is rapid, the use of continuous emission monitoring can reduce the frequency of periodic screening required to achieve a targeted level of emission reductions. A hypothetical case study of oil and gas production sites in the Permian Basin shows that the deployment of one continuous sensor per site with a rapid response to only the single largest emission event occurring across 100 sites would allow screening frequency to be cut in half (quarterly to semi-annual), while preserving an equivalent amount of emission reductions.