Sask. heavy oil production emitting 4 times more methane gas than reported, study says

New research suggests that Saskatchewan heavy oil production is emitting four times more methane gas than reported to government.

A team from Carleton University has employed new technology to take what they believe are the most accurate readings yet.

“It’s an aerial measurement, shoots a laser down to the ground and quantifies methane. We’ve coupled that with onsite measurement on the ground,” said Matthew Johnson, engineering professor at Carleton University.

They monitored nearly 1,000 production facilities in the Lloydminster, Sask. area. They found that methane emissions are four times as high as that reported to government employing older measuring techniques.

“Reporting at heavy oil sites is commonly based on estimates from something called a gas oil ratio and so there’s been lots of suspicions that these are uncertain, potentially quite inaccurate,” said Johnson.

The Saskatchewan government says methane is difficult to measure and results can vary day to day.

“Completely different approach obviously with aerial technology that they use to go out and do this study,” said Debby Westerman, resource management for Saskatchewan Energy and Mines. “It’s not unusual for these types of wells to have very variant amounts of gas coming out of them,”

Methane is a greenhouse gas emitted during heavy oil production. It’s 25 times more powerful than CO2.

The university researchers believe the most accurate information possible is important to assessing emissions reduction. The Saskatchewan government will assess the new information but is confident in the data that it now receives.