Harmonized Methane Emission Platform

Lead Proponent: Alberta Energy Regulator(AER)
Location: Calgary, AB
CEI Contribution: $ 1.27 M
Project Total: $ 3.75 M
Strategic Area: Methane and VOC Emissions

Project Objectives:

The objective is to demonstrate a new, more efficient and effective methane emissions reporting platform for the upstream oil and gas (UOG) industry that can collect, manage and share information in a standardized way across multiple provinces. The AER is working to implement a 45% methane emissions reduction in the UOG industry. The AER hopes to accomplish this by developing and administrating various regulatory instruments such as this reporting platform.

The vision for this platform is to facilitate methane emissions reductions through efficient, effective and transparent data management. Objectives are to develop a system that aligns activity and product definitions, facility and asset delineation, reporting standards and formats, accessibility to data and storage standards, architecture, and equipment inventories.

Expected Results

The AER has recently implemented modern, service-oriented architecture called “One Stop” for managing regulatory lifecycle processes. The first implementations of the platform included the data collection, management and sharing of information related to reclamation and pipeline construction. The project was very successful and was awarded an Elite Award for Business Process Innovation by OpenText Corporation in 2016. The OneStop Platform enables easier and transparent sharing of public information. The platform is scalable and is being expanded to include, well operations reports, integrated inspections, and water authorizations within the AER. In addition, Onestop is being adopted by other ministries within the province of Alberta. The intention for this project is to apply these same technologies within the methane reporting tool to leverage the advantages of data collection, and managing and sharing information in a standardized and collaborative way that encourages further harmonization for methane emission reporting. This will enable deeper and accelerated emission reductions.

Project Partners:

Government of Alberta

Collaborators:

Clearstone Engineering