The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced approximately $850 million for 43 projects selected for negotiation that will help small oil and gas operators, Tribes, and other entities across the country reduce, monitor, measure, and quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.
The funding builds on actions across the Biden/Harris administration to dramatically reduce methane emissions, with agencies taking nearly 100 actions since 2023, including the finalization of an EPA rule that is expected to reduce methane emissions from covered oil and gas sources by 80% from 2024 to 2038 compared with projected emissions without the rule.
The investment is designed to motivate companies’ near-term actions to conserve valuable energy resources for consumers, improve operational efficiencies in a global market, and reduce methane emissions.
“The public health of our nation depends greatly on our ability to drastically reduce harmful pollution from America’s largest source of industrial methane—the oil and gas sector,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “This historic investment made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act is helping energy communities and deliver long-lasting health and environmental benefits across the country. At the same time, it will support small operators’ ability to replace and upgrade old equipment, reducing emissions from marginal conventional wells, improving their supply chains to meet the growing market expectations for cleaner fuel sources.”
“Today, we’re building on strong standards and historic progress to cut methane pollution and protect communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These investments in the American oil and gas industry will support small businesses and drive the deployment of available and advanced technologies to reduce harmful pollution and tackle the climate crisis, while also helping to position the United States as the most efficient producer of oil and natural gas in the world and ensure that the industry remains globally competitive.”
“In order to meet our climate goals, we have to tackle methane pollution in a serious way,” said John Podesta, senior adviser to the president for international climate policy. “Today’s awards will slash local pollution from Colorado to Kentucky while delivering for our workers, our communities, and our planet.”
The selected projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history, represent a significant step in addressing climate change and improving air quality. By mitigating legacy air pollution and supporting small oil and natural gas operators, the projects aim to help reduce methane emissions through available and innovative technologies. Additionally, they will create partnerships to enhance emissions measurement and provide transparent data to affected communities. One Tribal consortium, 11 universities, and 20 private companies were selected for the following projects to deploy and test new and existing methane mitigation technologies:
- Three projects are designed to help small operators across the country significantly reduce methane emissions from low-producing oil and natural gas operations, using commercially available technology solutions.
- Thirty-one projects are designed to accelerate the deployment of early-commercial technology to reduce methane emissions from new and existing equipment.
- Four projects aim to improve communities’ access to empirical emissions data and participation in monitoring.
- Five projects are designed to enhance the detection and measurement of methane emissions from oil and gas operations at regional scale.
In total, the EPA and the DOE are partnering to provide $1.36 billion in financial and technical assistance as part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program. The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, under the purview of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, will manage the selected projects.