Oil and Gas Work Group

Overview

Oil and gas exploration and production activities are significant air pollution sources in the western United States. There is wide variation by basin, in terms of the types of wells and equipment operated and quantities of hydrocarbons produced, the number of wells to be maintained and to be newly drilled, the extraction practices and emission control technology applied in the drilling-completion-maintenance-production activities. Taxes on produced hydrocarbon resources fund state, tribal, and federal governments, and the commodity prices are subject to wide variation affecting both existing production and emissions, as well as development of new and/or replacement wells.

With the oil and gas sector continuing to experience rapid change and innovation over time, air regulatory agencies are responding to health and welfare issues under the federal Clean Air Act as well as through state and tribal authorities. These include jurisdiction-wide emissions reporting and control requirements, linked to efforts to address local issues and impacts. In the WESTAR-WRAP region, oil and gas exploration and production activity is concentrated in California, Alaska, and the Intermountain Region, with emissions management by states, tribes, and EPA. The produced hydrocarbons are transported with various methods for further processing and are then used in dozens or hundreds of products. The use of produced hydrocarbons for power, industrial, and commercial applications is ubiquitous in the U.S. and other well-developed economies.

Studies point to the need for improvements in the exploration and production emissions inventory to make those estimates more consistent, accurate, and complete across the various jurisdictions, as being one of the most needed datasets for air quality planning. Related analysis needs include:

More fully and more accurately characterizing emissions from individual exploration and production equipment and activity processes for emission inventory and air quality planning purposes;
Better understanding of results from top-down vs. bottom-up emissions and flux studies;
Identifying methods to address the super-emitter phenomena across the many types of production and differing geographic areas; and
Improving emissions estimates for leaking and venting of tanks and other systems.

The Oil and Gas Work Group (OGWG) efforts on these analysis topics will improve reported data quality, performance of air quality models, and exposure estimates. The OGWG also has an important role to coordinate regional communication and knowledge-sharing among WESTAR-WRAP members. The OGWG will address the members’ programs and data collection. The OGWG will provide oversight and coordinate efforts with projects and activities for WESTAR-WRAP and with other groups related to Oil and Gas.

Duties & Products

The Oil and Gas Work Group (OGWG) will organize teams to focus on, address, organize analyses, and report on 3 key topics for WESTAR-WRAP members, addressing issues from the preceding section:

Conduct an annual survey of Oil and Gas-related air quality management needs;
Improve emission inventories for the region and individual jurisdictions; and
Prepare an annual assessment to track efforts to implement rules and control strategies and report on compliance activities and emissions management structures.

This work must consider different levels of expertise, programmatic approaches, cultural necessities, and needs of each agency. Several of these activities involve close coordination, facilitated by the Technical Steering Committee (TSC), as with other WRAP Work Groups.

Operations & Reporting

The Co-Chairs will provide a summary report to the TSC at each TSC/WG Co-Chairs meeting, about the status of activities, findings, and work products for the topics described above. The Co-Chairs, with support from WESTAR-WRAP staff, will maintain an active open membership composed of interested state, tribal, local, and federal air agency and land manager experts, and publish the OGWG membership list and track participation on the Oil & Gas Work Group web page. No formal detailed workplan is required but welcome. The OGWG will have regular virtual or in-person meetings every 4 months to manage activities and provide oversight to projects. Subcommittees or Teams to be defined by the OGWG will execute, track, and provide oversight for both in-kind and/or contractor-supported OGWG projects and will meet at self-defined separate intervals. The task-oriented topics and responsibilities for a Subcommittee or Team will be a subset of the bulleted topics above from this Responsibilities and Deliverables section. The leads for Teams and Subcommittees will meet monthly with the OGWG Co-Chairs to note progress. The topics above will need additional clarification and definition in the process of defining a Subcommittee’s or a Team’s scopes, assignments, and intended deliverables in writing. Any Teams and Subcommittees will report regularly to the OGWG. The OGWG Co-Chairs will plan and direct the regular calls and meetings, and with assistance from WESTAR-WRAP staff, take the lead in communications and other necessary TSC and Board interaction.

Active Projects

Work Products & Materials

OGWG Analysis (November 2021-January 2022)

WESTAR-WRAP Region Oil and Gas Emission Inventory Refinement (additional work for BLM – leverages OGWG products below)

OGWG Work Products:

OGWG Projected Emissions from Baseline Year Emissions Inventory
1. Final Report (March 5, 2020) and Inventory Spreadsheet (final version of March 5, 2020) for the “Continuation of Historical Trends” projection inventory. These data will be used in modeling and control analyses for Regional Haze planning.
2. State of Colorado projections methodology (PDF) (January 2, 2020, data are included in the Final Report and Inventory Spreadsheet above).
3. State of New Mexico updated projections data from early Feb. 2020 are included in the Final Report and Inventory Spreadsheet above.
OGWG Baseline Year Alaska and Intermountain Region Emissions Inventory revised final deliverables – Sept. 2019
1. The Revised Final Report and Inventory Spreadsheet were completed in mid-Sept. and posted on Sept. 23, 2019. These files completely replace the previously posted July 2019 report and spreadsheet, while the gas profile information posted in July is unchanged. The July report and spreadsheet files have been removed to avoid confusion. The Revised Final Report includes updates from the July postings to include the: 1) Colorado O&G emissions based on new inventories provided by Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Southern Ute Indian Tribe and 2) Williston Basin casinghead gas emission inventory to correct emissions that were biased low based on EPA O&G Tool inputs.
OGWG Emissions Survey for State Air Agencies and O&G Operators
1. Complete survey (January 2019)
2. Fleet turnover and controls-focused survey (January 2019)

OGWG Road Map: Phase I Report (Consensus on April 16, 2018) – Appendix A (On-the-Books Regulations Tables)
WRAP OGWG Road Map Scope of Work (Consensus on October 10, 2017)
1. Identification and Review of Oil & Gas Specific Projection Methodologies and Work Products [to be completed by early 2018]
2. Base Year and Future Year Oil & Gas Emissions Inventories [to be completed by mid-2019]
3. Identification and Review of Member Agency Oil & Gas Programs and Emissions Management [to be completed in 2018]
WRAP OGWG Oil and Gas Emission Sources (Consensus on October 17, 2017)
WRAP OGWG 2017 Workplan (Consensus on January 10, 2017)

Work Group Meetings

2023

May 25^thOGWG Regular Meeting: Agenda | 2022 Draft Survey Results | Attendance | Recording

2022

August 16^thOGWG Regular Meeting (scheduled)

April 28^th Survey Implementation Logistics Meeting: Survey Logistics process and schedule | Excel version of survey

April 12^thOGWG Regular Meeting: Agenda | WESTAR/WRAP Spring Business Meeting Final Agenda | Draft OGWG Work Plan 2022 Annual Survey | Survey Schedule

March 22^ndFocus Area Implementation Meeting #3: Agenda | Draft OGWG Work Plan 2022 Annual Survey | WESTAR and WRAP 2022 Spring Meeting Agenda | Discussion with EPA on 2020 EPA O&G Emissions Tool

February 22^ndFocus Area Implementation Meeting #2: Agenda | Meeting Recording | ERG letter (Jan. 25, 2022) | Ramboll letter (Dec. 30, 2021) | Draft OGWG Workplan Scope Deliverable Tracking Plan (Feb. 2022 version)

January 25^thFocus Area Implementation Meeting #1 (kick-off): Agenda

2021

November 30^th OGWG Regular Call: Agenda | Final draft OGWG Workplan Scope for concurrence | Ramboll task report | 2016v2 Emissions Modeling Platform

September 30^th Draft Work Plan Scope – Special Call: Agenda | Sept. 21st Draft Work Plan Scope | Oct. 26th Draft Work Plan Scope

August 3^rdOGWG Regular Call: Agenda | Ramboll memo | Memo slides

March 30^th OGWG Regular Call: Agenda/Notes | WRAP Region Oil & Gas: Recent Activity Trends and Emission Inventories | Update on 2020NEI plans for non-point Oil and Gas sector

2020

December 8^th OGWG Regular Call: Agenda/Notes | CARB Report on Venting, Fugitive, and Flaring Emissions from Natural Gas | 2014 Colorado Oil and Gas Drill Rig Field Study- Model Evaluation Database

August 11^th OGWG Regular Call: Agenda/Notes

April 14^th OGWG Regular Call: Agenda/Notes | 2016 Collaborative Emissions Platform integration of WRAP O&G data – Jeff Vukovich, EPA

February 11^th OGWG Regular Call: Agenda/Notes | Agency Program Review (Feb06_2020 draft) PDF | Agency Program Review Supplement (Feb06_2020 draft) XLS | ARCS Memo (Feb06_2020 draft) PDF | ARCS Table (Feb06_+2020 draft) XLS | OGWG NM OGEI 2028OTB adjustments (Feb11_2020) PDF | Summary of SoW to obtain cost proposal for Add-on Tasks to current WESTAR / IWDW-WAQS contracted modeling effort (Feb6_2020) | EDF Permian Basin Methane Campaign PDF