About This Project

This project seeks to establish a nonprofit oil and gas company that will take over marginal leaky wells donated by large producers. These wells will be managed with a focus on eliminating methane emissions through technical upgrades and sealing leaks. By aligning economic incentives, we aim to reduce methane, a potent greenhouse gas, while generating revenue from certified leak-free production and carbon credits.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Methane is over 80 times more effective than CO2 in trapping heat in the atmosphere. New research warns that methane leaks from oil and gas production may be higher than previous estimates. Large oil and gas companies avoid public and regulatory scrutiny by offloading aging, leaking wells to small independent producers who lack resources to maintain or cap them. This project proposes a nonprofit model whereby aging marginal wells are donated and managed to eliminate methane leaks in a sustainable and scalable manner. The timing of this project is significant given a new wave of methane regulation in the US alongside a range of new methane monitoring satellites promoting transparency which may incentivize accelerated divestment of marginal wells.

What is the significance of this project?

Reducing methane leaks is one of the most effective ways to combat climate change without requiring new technologies. Methane mitigation is the lowest hanging fruit to extend the runway for the larger energy transition to take place.

Currently the only options for large oil and gas producers to address methane leaks are: (1) fix the leaks themselves, which may not be economic given low production; or (2) sell assets to small, independent producers who are exempt from regulation and public market scrutiny.

We will create a third option - donating marginal wells to a nonprofit operator that will convert marginal wells into environmentally friendly, leak-free assets. If successful, the model can be scaled to thousands of wells nationwide.

What are the goals of the project?

If successful, this project will address regulatory gaps, align industry incentives, and reduce the oil and gas industry's emissions footprint by eliminating methane leaks from marginal production wells. Goals include:

Nonprofit Establishment: Create a sustainable nonprofit oil and gas entity capable of managing and sealing donated wells.

Reduce Methane Emissions: Implement leak-elimination technologies to plug methane leaks in marginal wells while deploying continuous monitoring.

Economic Sustainability: Generate revenue through oil and gas production and carbon credit sales to maintain and expand the project.

Long-Term Impact: Scale the nonprofit model across the country, cleaning up methane leaks from thousands of wells to reduce overall emissions.