Is the rate of fugitive methane gas migration around Alberta’s energy wells adequately estimated?

Recent methane emission reduction efforts (e.g. by the IPCC, and the Governments of Canada and Alberta) make the assessment of fugitive emission sources important. Fugitive methane emissions around petroleum wells have been recognized by industry and regulators in Alberta since the early 1990s, but have proven problematic to remediate. They are classified, based on their expression at ground surface, as either Surface Casing Vent Flow (SCVF; where methane migration from the subsurface occurs via outermost casing) or Gas Migration (GM; where methane gas is observed at ground surface outside of the outermost casing and/or cement sheath). Well licensees are obligated by regulation to measure SCVF and GM at certain points in a well’s lifetime and/or at abandonment.

Author(s)Jason M. Abboud, M. Cathryn RyanGroupUniversity of CalgaryYear2018