B.C. is increasing the stringency of its regulations for reducing methane emissions in the oil and gas sector, though not enough to earn full marks from environmental groups like the Pembina Institute and David Suzuki Foundation.
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation and BC Energy Regulator today announced a tightening of regulations for methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.
In 2020, the B.C. government implemented a target of reducing methane emissions by 45 per cent from 2014 levels by 2025.
The province is “well on track” to hit those targets, the Ministry of Energy and Mines said in a press release today.
In November 2023, the Ministry of Environment reported that B.C.’s oil and gas sector had already exceeded the 45 per cent reduction target by five per cent.
The government is now planning to increase the stringency of its methane reduction targets through the BC Energy Regulator (formerly the BC Oil and Gas Commission).
The BCER has amended regulations under the Energy Resource Activities Act to increase methane reductions targets to 75 per cent below 2014 levels by 2030.
A number of oil and gas producers in B.C.’s gas fields of the northeast of the province have achieved lower methane emissions through best practices, such as green completions. This is an approach in which methane is captured during well completion in hydraulic fracturing, rather than allowing it to be vented or flared. Some operators in B.C. have also used electrification to replace gas-activated pneumatic valves in equipment with electric actuators.
Under the updated regulations, some of these best practices and cleaner technologies will become mandatory.
“The new regulations will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, and will apply to new and existing wells, facilities and pipelines throughout the province,” the ministry said in a news release.
“The regulations take a risk-based approach to detecting methane leaks, with the highest-risk sources requiring continuous monitoring. They will also require industry to phase out methane-emitting equipment, such as pneumatic devices and pumps, and install zero-emissions technology.”
The Pembina Institute said in a press release that the tighter regulations don’t go far enough.
“The new regulations still do not cover some important methane sources and some aspects will not apply to existing facilities until 2035, which is much later than national and international best practices,” it said in a press release.
"Today's regulations to reduce potent methane emissions from B.C. oil and gas show encouraging progress, but they leave out sources other jurisdictions are tackling, so they fall short of what's needed for maximum climate benefit,” said David Suzuki Foundation senior climate policy adviser Thomas Green.
