Tourmaline is Canada’s largest natural gas producer and fourth largest midstream operator with an expansive production base in west central Alberta and NEBC. Fugitive and venting emissions account for around 2% and 14% of Tourmaline’s total Scope 1 emissions and while absolute methane emissions are large, methane emissions intensity per unit of natural gas produced, gathered and processed, is among the lowest in industry. As Tourmaline continues to bring on new production through drilling and exploration programs, it does so with zero-emission wellpads. However, growth by acquisition and maintaining production at legacy assets means constant investment of resources to keep lowering methane intensity.
A significant portion of vented methane emissions originate from pneumatically actuated devices and chemical pumps at older and/or acquired wells and wellpads; these devices number in the thousands and operate variably across Tourmaline’s operating areas throughout the year. Tourmaline has made significant investments in pneumatic device and pump tracking and replacement, in addition to regular monitoring and inspection of methane emissions. Over and above compliance-based ground surveys, Tourmaline monitors methane emissions using Bridger aerial LiDAR technology and screens 2,800+ wells and facilities annually.
With methane emissions reduction emerging as a top priority for producers, managing the growing volume of emissions data from various technologies and platforms has become an increasingly complex challenge. Recognizing an opportunity to streamline this resource-intensive process, Tourmaline turned to technology to accelerate actionable insights and discover new ways to use LiDAR data.
Tourmaline partnered with StackDX to streamline the management of LiDAR-measured methane emissions data collected during their annual aerial asset surveys. Utilizing the Petro Ninja mapping application, incoming data is seamlessly ingested and overlaid with historical insights. This integration allows Tourmaline to efficiently visualize their assets, pinpoint and identify associated methane emissions.
By leveraging Petro Ninja for data visualization, Tourmaline can efficiently screen methane emissions across it’s operations, and initiate workflows to confirm methane emissions on the ground. At a macro level, Tourmaline consolidates historical LiDAR emissions data over time and across geographic regions allowing swift spatial and temporal analysis, targeted action on large emissions sources, and planning large pneumatic device replacement campaigns. Additionally, the high-resolution images that accompanies emissions data can now be leveraged for other valuable use cases within the company, including development planning and facility optimization projects.
Tourmaline’s commitment to sustainability, bolstered by cutting-edge technology, demonstrates their leadership in environmental stewardship while maintaining operational excellence.
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