As a result of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL) collaboration through an interagency agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Methane Emission Reduction Program (MERP), the U.S. oil and gas industries now have expanded access to information about private sector providers of advanced methane monitoring technologies for use in selecting, plugging and mitigating leaks from marginal conventional wells (MCWs) that dot much of the nation’s oil and gas-producing regions.

NETL collected information about current methane detection, quantification and monitoring instrument technologies by reviewing an array of published articles and documents and then organized and formatted the information. EPA integrated the information into the EPA Natural Gas STAR Program’s Oil and Gas Equipment and Service Providers Directory, a long-standing resource that facilitates connections between operators and service providers.

As a result of the work, more than 50 equipment and service providers were added to the directory and data about methane detection and measurement technologies was expanded.

NETL is a key leadership partner in EPA’s MERP effort. Its role is to provide technical and financial assistance to states and operators. The partnership began in 2023 with the production of field studies, digital data and optimization tools.

According to José D. Figueroa, a senior management and technical advisor at NETL who leads the lab’s MERP effort, understanding the technologies available to quantify and measure methane emissions at MCWs is essential to the well selection process for mitigation and plugging efforts. MCWs are wells that produce less than 15 barrels of oil equivalent, or less than 90,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The EPA Natural Gas STAR Directory is a living resource that evolves with user contributions. Companies interested in submitting their technologies and services to the directory for inclusion can access a form here.

“It is important to address methane emissions from MCWs because methane is a potent greenhouse gas,” Figueroa said. “Unaddressed, the wells can emit methane into the atmosphere and/or leach into surrounding soils and waters creating safety hazards that prevent lands from being used for recreation or other productive purposes.”

Recent estimates suggest that there are more than 597,000 MCWs in the U.S. and they comprise about 80% of all active oil and gas wells in the country. MCWs are concentrated in Appalachia, the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, the Rocky Mountains, and California — regions that have a long and rich history of conventional oil and gas development. More than half of the MCWs are in five states: Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Oklahoma. Marginal oil and gas production in the U.S. contributes around 1 million tons per year of methane emissions.

The interagency agreement highlights the synergistic fit between NETL’s capabilities, The DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM) Methane Mitigation Technologies Program and EPA’s statutory requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act, which established MERP.

The nation’s transition to clean energy requires a whole-of-government approach. The EPA, DOE and NETL partnership is a cooperative effort to tap each agency’s strengths and ensure that funds are distributed quickly and effectively, helping increase the efficiency of U.S. oil and gas operations and realize near-term emission reductions.

In June 2024, NETL released a detailed report that presents key guidelines for measuring methane emissions from marginally producing oil and natural gas wells. The guidelines were developed to assist 14 states that were awarded MERP funding for voluntary methane emissions reduction efforts from MCWs.

NETL is a DOE national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By using its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.