Zero Methane Emissions Goal May Be Elusive For Any Driller/Fracker

Range Resources pledges to achieve zero gas emissions in its Marcellus operations

From an Article by Rick Shrum, Washington PA Observer Reporter, May 23, 2019

The company that broke ground, literally and figuratively, in the Marcellus Shale is striving for another groundbreaking achievement. Zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Range Resources, the largest natural gas driller in the region, issued its first Corporate Sustainability Report on Tuesday. It is a 32-page summary detailing its successes in reducing emissions over the past decade, along with other corporate initiatives, accomplishments and goals.

The most prominent goal, which jumps off page 5, is this Report Highlight: “Range is actively working to achieve zero emissions across our operations.”

That is an ambitious endeavor, one that will inspire skepticism about the prospects of attaining true zero emissions. And the company did not propose a timeframe for accomplishing that.

But Scott Roy, senior vice president, said the company has been progressing toward that lofty objective. “Ultimately, our goal is zero emissions, meaning if we have any points of emissions, we have additional opportunities to pursue and more work to be done.”

Jeffrey Ventura, chief executive officer and president of Range, echoed those sentiments in a letter to stakeholders: “Range has been at the forefront of the industry in emission reductions by using cutting-edge technologies and customized engineering solutions . . .”

Range, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and with local headquarters at Southpointe, has been operating in Pennsylvania for 26 years. Range drilled the first Marcellus well, the Renz Well, in Mt. Pleasant Township in November 2004.

Among other highlights in the report, Range says it:
>>> has reduced the company’s leak ratio by 70% over the past three years;
>>> is reusing 153% of its own water and other operators’ water in a sharing program;
>>> had made $2 billion-plus in leasing and royalty payments in Pennsylvania since 2006;
>>> has invested $10 million through its corporate giving program into nonprofit and civic organizations;
>>> cut greenhouse gas emissions 8% and increased production 8% from 2017 to 2018.

Range Resources has an estimated 800 employees.

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See Also: The Methane Detectives: On the Trail of a Global Warming Mystery. Article by Jonathan Mingle, May 13, 2019

The amount of methane in the atmosphere has been continuing to increase. And nobody really knows why. What’s more, no one saw it coming. Methane levels have been climbing more steeply than climate experts anticipated, to a degree “so unexpected that it was not considered in pathway models preparatory to the Paris Agreement.”

Tagged as: climate change, greenhouse gases, Methane emissions, Range Resources, Southwestern Penna.