Diversified Energy Co. Plc is set to significantly expand the emissions detection capability of its Appalachian upstream operations, which the company said Nov. 9 is part of its ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship.

“We are actively accelerating investments in emerging environmental technology that will greatly expand our field operations team’s ability to detect and repair methane emissions in Appalachia and across our broader asset base,” Diversified Energy CEO Rusty Hutson Jr. commented in a company release.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., and listed on the London Stock Exchange, Diversified’s business model focuses exclusively on buying PDP natural gas assets. The company had previously primarily focused in the Appalachian Basin until an acquisition in May 2021 of assets that established a new central regional focus area for Diversified within Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The expansion of its emissions detection capability will include the deployment of an additional 500 methane emissions detection devices to its Appalachian upstream field operations team. Diversified had previously deployed 100 devices across Appalachia as part of a pilot project that the company said in its release “proved to be effective in identifying small emissions for trained well tenders to eliminate at little-to-no incremental cost.”

In total, Diversified will have 600 hand-held methane emissions detection devices deployed in its Appalachia operating area.

As part of a longstanding zero-tolerance policy regarding unintended methane emissions, Diversified said Nov. 9 it is committed to repairing all emissions and to documenting and publicly disclosing the results of its emissions detection and repair activities. Reflecting its ongoing commitment to these initiatives, the company added that it will continue to evaluate complementary emission reduction investments as it integrates its recently acquired central region assets and continues to optimize its Appalachian assets.

The investment of the additional emissions detection devices is part of the company’s existing Smarter Asset Management programs as well as new ESG initiatives set to be discussed by the company at Diversified’s upcoming capital markets day. In a recent release announcing the event to be held Nov. 17, the company also unveiled it had appointed Teresa Odom to a newly established position dedicated to expanding Diversified’s ESG capabilities.

“Diversified remains committed to the continuous improvement of our environmental performance and to outpacing the expectations of our stakeholders,” Hutson added in the Nov. 9 release.

Onshore