6th oil project to flare for three months at start up - Exxon Study

6th oil project to flare for three months at start up – Exxon Study

Apr 25, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

…unable to accurately forecast overall output of greenhouse gas emissions

Kaieteur News – With the US$12.7B project now sanctioned and preparations underway for its immediate development, it should be noted that while, flaring is strictly prohibited, there are special circumstances under which the company will be allowed to flare with permission.

This includes, during start up or commission. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project, “the estimated flaring emissions assume that start-up flaring for the Project will occur for up to 3 months at the rate of 120 million standard cubic feet per day.”

This, ExxonMobil said, “includes best efforts to achieve flaring of pilot gas, purge gas, and other de minimis streams (60 days) and an additional 30 days to complete safe commissioning and start-up of all gas compression equipment with minimal controlled flare events.”

According to ExxonMobil, between 2027 and 2029, Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions from the operations are expected to exceed 2,580 kilo tonnes.

In qualifying its position, the consultants that prepared the report for Exxon said, “GHG emissions from the Project have been estimated based on a number of factors, including activity levels, fuel types, equipment capacities, vendor-provided data, emission factors published by the American Petroleum Institute (API) in Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Methodologies for the Natural Gas and Oil Industry (API 2021), and standard emission factors published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in AP-42, among other sources.”

It did note importantly too that, the Project emissions estimates account for an assumed quantity of emissions from low-level continuous flaring of pilot gas, purge gas, and other de minimis streams; non-routine flaring associated in part with upsets and maintenance; and other non-routine and/or unplanned events during the Project life cycle.

Acknowledging potential climate/climate change impacts are a global concern and stem from cumulative worldwide GHG concentrations, the consultants said the Global Circulation Models used to predict climate impacts from global concentrations are built around emissions on a global scale, and thus are not capable of modeling impacts from the GHG emissions contribution from a single project such as the Whiptail Development Project.

It notes however that statistical downscaling methods can be used to establish a statistical relationship between global climate and local climate using observed data and can be used to estimate future local climate changes based on the results of Global Circulation Models.

According to ExxonMobil, while it is possible to quantify the estimated total GHG emissions from the Project, it is difficult to assign a magnitude rating that reflects the potential effects the receptor will experience specifically as a result of the Project. The primary sources of GHG emissions for the Whiptail Project will be generated through activities such as the combustion turbines and flaring on the FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel), with smaller amounts from other fuel combustion sources.” To this end, it said GHG emissions were calculated in three parts for the EIA, namely, the quantity of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the fuel that is emitted directly as CO2; products of combustion of various fuel components based on the potential for each component to contribute to GHG emissions; and the CO2-equivalent (CO2e) emissions of other emitted compounds such as methane and nitrous oxides.

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emissions, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), flare, million, months, project

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