American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018 - 35

to understand the industry's challenges is
the product of years of hard work by everyone in the industry," he reflects. "It makes
a difference when the employees in our
companies talk with their elected officials
about the industry's circumstances."

Although LOGA is relieved the industry has not been a target, Briggs acknowledges disappointment that Louisiana
has held four legislative sessions this
year. "Ultimately, people believe in their
positions on financing state government,"

he reflects. "Passing any sort of tax increase requires a two-thirds majority, and
getting there is very difficult right now.
We have to figure out how many of the
state government's wants and needs we
are going to fund."
r

EID Finds Flaws In EDF Methane Study
WASHINGTON-A study on oil and
gas industry methane emissions by the
Environmental Defense Fund that has
been touted as "the most comprehensive
on the topic," is itself the outlier and
based on some faulty assumptions and
methodology, the Independent Petroleum
Association of America responds.
IPAA's rapid response team, Energy in
Depth, notes that EDF published its report,
"Assessment of Methane Emissions from
the U.S. Oil and Gas Supply Chain," on
June 21 in the journal Science, just ahead
of the 27th annual World Gas Conference.
But EID says EDF has released numerous studies on natural-gas-system
methane emissions during the past six
years that have found leakage rates between
1.2 and 1.5 percent. "So the fact that a
new study finds methane leakage rates of
2.3 percent-well above what EDF-led research has found previously and 60 percent
higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inventory estimates, begs

the question," EID poses: "What changed?"
It turns out, EID states, quite a lot, and
most of the changes raise red flags. "Not
only did the authors of the new study-
which includes no new measurements . . .
opt not to use past EDF research, they
rely exclusively on five far less comprehensive facility-level studies that lacked
industry participation," EID points out.
In contrast, EID says, an "alternative"
calculation based partially on EDF's own
past studies, which is buried in the study's
supplemental data and not mentioned in
the report itself, finds emissions in line
with EPA estimates.
Backward Approach
The EID response points out five deficiencies in the EDF report, beginning
with the fact the new study's methane
emissions estimate is based entirely on
downwind, facility-based measurements
validated by top-down (TD) studies.
However, EID says, a National Acad-

emy of Sciences (NAS) report aimed at
improving national methane emissions
inventories recommends a more comprehensive approach combining bottom-up
(BU) measurements with TD measurements, calling them "crucial for identifying
knowledge gaps and prioritizing emission
inventory improvements."
In fact, EID observes, EDF previously
has conducted studies combining the comprehensive TD/BU methods recommended
by NAS. Zavala-Araiza et al is the most
notable example, EID says, and it found a
methane leakage rate of only 1.5 percent.
Further, EID adds, a National Energy
Technology Laboratory study based on
Zavala-Araiza data estimates national
methane emissions at 1.65 percent.
"The new EDF report argues that using
facility-level measurements exclusively is
appropriate because component-based studies can 'under-sample abnormal operating
SEE METHANE PAGE 136

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018

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