Western Australian regulators have launched an investigation into repeated large methane emissions detected above Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project, one of Australia’s biggest gas developments.
Satellite monitoring has identified five significant methane plumes above the Barrow Island operation since November last year.
The latest recorded emission rate was around 7.8 tonnes of methane an hour near Gorgon’s acid gas removal facilities.
That made the project one of Western Australia’s largest detected methane emitters.
The United Nations has previously raised concerns with Chevron, while state regulators are now working to determine the source of the emissions and whether compliance action is required.
Methane scrutiny intensifies
Methane is significantly more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over shorter periods, making leakage a growing focus for governments attempting to reduce emissions.
The investigation is particularly sensitive because Gorgon was promoted as one of Australia’s flagship carbon capture and storage developments.
Its carbon storage system has consistently failed to capture the volume of emissions originally expected.
Gorgon has capacity to produce about 15.6 million tonnes of LNG annually and supplies both export markets and Western Australian domestic customers.
The project is also undergoing plans designed to support production for several more decades.
The latest investigation therefore raises questions about how emissions from large gas developments are monitored and enforced.
Satellite technology is making previously difficult-to-detect methane releases increasingly visible.
That could create a new regulatory challenge for Australia’s oil, gas and coal industries as independent monitoring provides governments and investors with much more detailed information about operational emissions.
