NGC joins global Oil and Gas Methane Partnership

In an effort to reduce its carbon impact, the National Gas Company (NGC) has joined the global Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP).

In a media release on Wednesday, NGC said its membership was finalised in May with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Environment Programme.

NGC said it was utilising technology and collaborative partnerships to track internal use and reduce the methane output from its operations.

“These have included the purchase of an infrared camera to detect fugitive emissions along pipelines and gas handling infrastructure, and a partnership with Netherlands-based service provider, Orbital Eye, to determine satellite options to detect emissions through satellite imaging.

“NGC is also represented on the IGU Methane experts panel and works in close collaboration with both IGU and OGMP on this global initiative.”

OGMP is a comprehensive, measurement-based methane reporting framework that standardises rigorous and transparent emissions accounting practices.

Its member companies voluntarily provide transparent reporting and reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector through a global standard for methane emissions reporting, measurement and control.

The reporting framework was launched in 2020 by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the European Commission, Environmental Defense Fund and over 60 companies with assets in five continents representing 30 per cent of global oil and gas production.

This participation is expected to strengthen NGC’s capacity to deal with methane emissions, through collaboration and exchange with major multinational oil and gas players who were also non-operated joint venture partners.

NGC’s president Mark Loquan said, “Our proactive approach to addressing methane emissions speaks to our deep and genuine commitment to reducing the carbon impact of our business and the broader sector.

“The sustainability of economies and livelihoods, and indeed the health and lives of people across the region, depend on us getting this right. With so much at stake, we at NGC have resolved to do everything within our power to bring emissions down.”

NGC said small islands suffer the consequences of climate change and were particularly vulnerable to the impacts of rising global temperatures.

Among the most potent, NGC said, was methane, which has 80 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale and is responsible for 25 per cent of the warming being experienced.