HOUSTON—LNG producer Cheniere Energy Inc. on June 10 announced a collaboration with five natural gas producers and several leading academic institutions to implement quantification, monitoring, reporting and verification (QMRV) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance at natural gas production sites.

The engagement is intended to improve the overall understanding of upstream GHG emissions and further the deployment of advanced monitoring technologies and protocols. It will also support Cheniere’s climate strategy initiatives, including the company’s plan to provide Cargo Emissions Tags (CE Tags) to customers beginning in 2022.

The producers participating in the project are Aethon Energy, Ascent Resources – Utica LLC, EQT Corp., Indigo Natural Resources LLC and Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc.

“Collaboration with our natural gas suppliers is a key component of Cheniere’s focus on quantifying and improving environmental performance,” said Jack Fusco, president and CEO of Cheniere. “This collaboration reinforces our data-driven environmental transparency, supports our CE Tags and enhances our efforts with natural gas suppliers to monitor and verify emissions to maximize the climate benefits of Cheniere’s LNG.”

This collaborative R&D initiative will utilize multiple ground-based, drone, aerial and satellite monitoring technologies to establish baseline emissions levels. The project will monitor sites for CO2 and for both fugitive and vented methane emissions. The initiative will also verify emissions performance and identify opportunities to reduce emissions.

The initial effort will cover production wells in the Haynesville, Marcellus, Permian and Utica basins that collectively produce approximately 360 MMcf/d of natural gas, as well as multiple tank batteries.

The project is being run by a subsidiary of Cheniere and is supported by researchers from the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, SLR International and other emissions monitoring technology providers, including Montrose Environmental, SeekOps, Bridger Photonics Inc. and GHGSat.

The QMRV R&D collaboration will also assess the technical and policy considerations related to GHG emissions management at production sites, including the scalability and the efficacy of a robust QMRV program and monitoring technologies.

“Transparency and robust data are essential to addressing emissions. The Payne Institute is pleased to be part of this project, as lessons learned will be invaluable to not just participants, but to stakeholders globally as companies and countries develop their GHG mitigation policies,” said Morgan Bazilian, Director of the Payne Institute and Professor of Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines.