Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Dec. 21 it had achieved Grade “A” MiQ and EO100 certification for its legacy Hayensville operations, making Chesapeake the first shale producer to certify Haynesville natural gas operations jointly under the MiQ methane standard and the EO100 standard for responsible energy development, which covers a broad range of ESG criteria.

“Achieving a Grade ‘A’ certification from MiQ marks an important initial step on our path to demonstrating a commitment to embracing a lower-carbon future with a sustainable and socially responsible business,” Nick Dell'Osso, president and CEO of Chesapeake, commented in a company release.

A digital registry will issue one joint MiQ-EO100 certificate for each million Btu of certified natural gas from the wells that make up Chesapeake’s legacy Haynesville Shale operations. These certificates will be ready for delivery to buyers and traders of certified natural gas through Chesapeake’s account on the digital registry—the first encrypted platform capable of enabling a universally accepted way to trade certified natural gas.

The certification includes Chesapeake’s legacy Haynesville Shale operations with production volume of approximately 1 Bcf/d.

Chesapeake is deploying Scientific Aviation’s SOOFIETM stand-alone real-time methane leak detection system to achieve the certification. The Oklahoma City-based company has also set a goal to certify all of its Marcellus production under the MiQ methane standard, and the EO100 standard for responsible energy development, by the end of second-quarter 2022.

“While we’re extraordinarily proud of our progress,” Dell'Osso continued, “we recognize there is important work ahead as we demonstrate continuous improvement across all of our operations and highlight the crucial role of responsible U.S. energy production in helping the world meet the energy needs of its citizens as well as the environmental needs of the planet.”

Chesapeake expects achieving these certifications for its production in both the Haynesville and Marcellus shale basins will support its overall objective of reaching net-zero direct greenhouse-gas emissions by 2035.