Support for Reducing Methane Emissions from the Oil and Natural Gas Industry

As a key approach to mitigating climate change, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency created the Natural Gas STAR Program to help the oil and natural gas industry reduce its methane emissions. The program provides its industry partners with technical assistance and information focusing on methane reduction activities; enables partners to share experiences and lessons learned; and tracks key industry data. In 2022, EPA announced a second initiative, the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, to reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. Created under the Inflation Reduction Act, this program further expedites reduction of oil and gas methane emissions by providing financial and technical assistance to industry. Both Gas STAR and MERP contracted with ERG to support developing technical products and engaging with partners and the public.

ERG provides technical information, reviews partner-submitted data, and provides outreach and communications support to help both programs achieve their goals. For example, for Gas STAR, ERG designed and developed a user-friendly web-based tool (the Methane Mitigation Technologies Platform) that describes mitigation technologies and practices to reduce methane emissions from key emission sources in the oil and natural gas industry. Following publication of this platform in 2023, ERG has continued to expand the information it provides, including incorporating information on emission sources that are being prioritized to reduce emissions through MERP assistance. Other ERG support activities have included reviewing and compiling data reported to Gas STAR, updating the Natural Gas STAR and Methane Challenge accomplishments webpages, and updating the individual company Methane Challenge partner profile webpages. For MERP, ERG also supported webinars and sent email listserv messages to help the public learn about upcoming events.