Southwestern Energy Co. is expanding an agreement certifying all of its over 3 Bcf/d of natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin as responsibly sourced.

Headquartered in Houston, Southwestern is an independent energy company focused on the development of unconventional natural gas reservoirs across more than 786,000 net acres in Appalachia. The company—considered first-movers in the ESG space—certified its first wells as responsibly sourced in 2017 through a partnership with Project Canary.

“In 2017, we saw the potential for a differentiated market that values responsibly sourced gas, and today, we add another milestone by becoming the largest independent producer to certify and continuously monitor its entire base production,” Southwestern Energy President and CEO Bill Way said in a joint release from the company and Project Canary.

Under the terms of the agreement, Southwestern will expand its existing relationship with Project Canary to utilize Project Canary’s independent TrustWell™ analysis platform across its existing and future unconventional Appalachia wells. Project Canary will also initiate the installation of its Canary X continuous emissions monitoring devices on all Southwestern’s pad locations throughout the Appalachia Basin.

Southwestern’s position in the Appalachian Basin located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio is divided into two development areas. The “northeast Appalachia” area in northeast Pennsylvania primarily focuses on the Marcellus Shale. Meanwhile, operations in the “southwest Appalachia” area are focused on the Marcellus Shale, the Utica and the Upper Devonian reservoirs in West Virginia, Ohio and southwest Pennsylvania.

The responsibly sourced gas (RSG) certification process is set to begin in July, with substantially all RSG certifications expected to be complete by early 2022.

“Natural gas is a clean, reliable and affordable source of energy and, as a leading producer of natural gas, we are proud to be a part of a lower-carbon future,” Way added in his statement.

Southwestern’s announcement also marks more than three-dozen agreements Project Canary has entered into with companies across the upstream, midstream and utilities space, which Chris Romer, the Denver-based company’s CEO and co-founder, said reflects the growing differentiated market demand for RSG.

“The differentiated market for RSG is expanding quickly and independent, third-party certification ensures that the demands of global end-users, with heightened sustainability demands, will be met and exceeded through the energy transition, where RSG will play a central role,” commented Romer in the joint release.

So far this year, Project Canary has announced partnerships in Appalachia with Range Resources Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. for select wellpads in Pennsylvania as well as EQT Corp.

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