WASHINGTON —The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and PEMEX recently announced a significant collaboration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically methane, that will advance the ambitious global methane reduction goals of the Global Methane Pledge.
With this new collaboration, EPA and PEMEX will work through diagnostic and economic analyses to support decision making to reduce methane emissions in the near term across its onshore oil and natural gas operations. These actions will support the priorities of PEMEX to deploy readily available methane reduction technologies and practices. Implementing these studies and measures will reduce potent greenhouse gas emissions to achieve near-term climate benefits, significantly improve air quality and public health, conserve natural gas that would otherwise be wasted, improve operational efficiency, and reduce operation and maintenance costs.
Through this cooperation EPA and PEMEX will work together to:
- Identify major methane emissions sources across PEMEX’s operations, including specific hotspot sites, infrastructure and equipment sources, and operational sources of methane.
- Recommend mitigation options to mitigate these sources, including flare capture and flare efficiency opportunities, equipment replacement and operational changes to eliminate routine venting, and regular leak detection and repair.
With EPA technical support, by the first half of 2023, PEMEX will develop and release a plan for implementing these mitigation activities, beginning with PEMEX’s onshore oil and gas operations, including measures to reduce routine flaring and venting and fugitive methane emissions. This will advance Mexico’s goals to reduce methane emissions in line with its commitment to the Global Methane Pledge and Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway, as well as the Global Gas Flaring and Reduction Partnership and the Zero Routine Flaring Initiative.