Ozone and the Denver NAA: An Oil and Gas Perspective

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Ozone and the Denver NAA An Oil and Gas
Perspective

• Curtis Rueter
• Noble Energy, Inc.

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Topics Covered

• What is oil and gas doing about ozone?
• Past involvement
• Current activities
• Nobles program
• What education is important for the public?

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What is Oil and Gas Doing about Ozone Past
Involvement

• 2002 Development of flash emission factor and
  Reg 3 changes with APCD
• 2003-04
• Support for Voluntary EAC process
• Funding of WRI controls research project
• 2005
• Exceeded 37.5 control level
• Other oil and gas companies met engine and dehy
  standards

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What is Oil and Gas Doing about Ozone Past
Involvement

• 2006
• Exceeded 47.5 control level
• Reg 7 revisions for ozone deferred non-attainment
  area
• COGA supported state-wide Reg 7 limits

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What is Oil and Gas Doing about Ozone Past
Involvement

• 2007
• Industry met 75 control
• Reduced oil and gas emissions to 1973 levels
• Compliance challenges
• Short time frame (lt 5 months) and harsh winter
  field conditions
• Approximately 2,500-3,000 devices and 30 million
  capital costs spent to date
• Over ½ of units needed to be installed to go from
  47.5 to 75

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What is Oil and Gas Doing About Ozone Current
Activities

• Active participants in the RAQCs stakeholder
  process
• WRAP Phase III
• Guiding Principles
• Voluntary early reductions

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RAQC Stakeholder Process Oil and Gas Activities

• WRAP Phase III Emission Inventory Initiative
• Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP)
• Industry is funding this more detailed
  basin-specific approach for developing emission
  inventories
• Previous Phase I and Phase II data were developed
  on more of regional level

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WRAP Phase III More Details

• First comprehensive inventory of oil and gas area
  sources
• Identifies and characterizes differences between
  regional basins
• Refines future growth projections
• Provides a mechanism for future updates
• DJ Basin was the first basin covered
• Provided improved emission inventory for modeling

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WRAP Phase III Survey of Sources

• Natural gas processing plants
• Compressor stations
• Drilling/Workover rigs
• Artificial lift engines
• Vapor recovery unit (VRU) engines
• Oil/Gas well heaters
• Oil/Gas storage tanks
• Oil/Gas well completions
• Oil/Gas well fugitive emissions

• Venting
• Blowdowns
• Dehydration units
• Amine units
• Hydrocarbon loading
• Landfarms
• Water treatment/injection
• Flaring
• Pneumatic devices
• Produced water tanks

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Guiding Principles

• Adoption of ozone control measures should be
  based on good science
• Should be specific to Front Range ozone
• Learn from and build on previous strategies
• Voluntary controls for 2008
• Institutional/societal barriers should be
  addressed
• Education opportunity!

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Voluntary Reductions by Oil and Gas for 2008

• Letters at www.raqc.org
• Voluntary measures by Anadarko, EnCana, Noble,
  and Petroleum Development (PDC)
• Noble, Anadarko, and PDC are three largest
  operators in Wattenberg EnCana is fifth

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Examples of Voluntary Reduction Measures

• Control of flash emissions beyond 75 requirement
• Retrofit / replacement of high bleed pneumatic
  devices
• Well completion management practices minimize
  or control flowbacks

• IR camera programs for identifying leaks
• Equipment / site automation
• Employee education
• Employee trip reduction

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Nobles Current Program

• Currently achieving 85 emission reductions of
  condensate flash
• Approximately 1,300 control devices installed on
  1,600 tank batteries
• Burners are primary control
• Issues with vapor recovery units
• Controls installed on all new wells prior to
  production

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Flash Control Costs (Non-Capital)

• Pilot gas (200-300 scfd/unit)
• Compliance staff
• Typically an Air Quality engineer plus ½-1 FTE
  contractor support
• Field staff
• Construction foreman and supporting staff
• Inspections by field personnel at least every 2
  days
• Field contractors
• 2-4 contract crews working on units (3 man crews)
• Noble has 3 contractors for VRU operations
• Sampling, maintenance, and RD costs

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Nobles Current RD Program

• Separator redesigns
• Innovative vapor recovery approaches
• Innovative burner designs
• Paper at GPA Conference in March, 2008 to be
  published in Oil and Gas Journal

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What Education is Important for the Public?

• What 3 messages do I wish everyone knew and
  understood?
• Message 1 Individual actions are very
  important
• Cars, lawn mowers, edgers, etc., are major
  contributors to Denvers ozone issues
• Individual decisions on car maintenance, driving,
  lawn mowing, and car refueling make an impact

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Rocky Flats Monitor 2007 Source Apportionment
with EAC ControlsTable A-1a of EAC Source
Apportionment Report
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What Education is Important for the Public?

• Message 2 Not all emissions contribute
  equally to ozone or Different pollutants have
  different ozone contributions
• Cars, lawn mowers, and gasoline vapors have very
  high ozone-forming potential
• Message 3 Denvers ozone problem cannot be
  solved by controlling industrial sources