Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 27 2021

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In practical terms, the statement said, the
company will seek to bring the Scope 1 GHG
emissions intensity of its upstream production
operations down to less than 160 tonnes of car-
bon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by or before
2025. This would represent a decline of approx-
imately 70% on 2018 levels and 21% on 2019
levels, it said.
“EQT’s methane intensity for 2020 is approx-
imately 81% lower than the 2025 target set by
the ONE Future Coalition for the production
segment,” it added.
Additionally, EQT said it intended to cut
Scope 1 methane emissions to less than 0.02%. Most of EQT’s fields are in the Marcellus formation (Photo: EQT)
This marks a 65% drop on 2018 levels and a
19% drop on 2019 levels, not including the 2020 emissions generated by the company’s upstream
annualised emissions arising from its acquisi- operations, it explained.
tion of Chevron Appalachian’s assets, it stated. Toby Z. Rice, EQT’s president and CEO,
The company did not comment further on expressed satisfaction with these initiatives.
its plans for reducing Scope 2 GHG emissions. “The actions that we have taken in the last year
It did offer further details on its efforts to reduce have set EQT on the path to be net zero by 2025,
emissions in 2020, though. It noted, for example, if not sooner,” he remarked. “Bolstering this
that it had reduced diesel consumption by 23mn ambition is our ability to leverage technology
gallons as a result of switching all of its hydraulic and innovation that not only improves our
fracturing (fracking) operations to electric last operational efficiencies but lessens our environ-
year. Additionally, it said it had begun a process mental impact.”
that would allow it to replace all of its gas-pow- EQT is the largest producer of natural gas
ered pneumatic devices by 2023. These devices in the Appalachian basin. Most of its assets lie
accounted for about 53% of the Scope 1 GHG within the Marcellus formation. ™

North Dakota sues federal government

over BLM’s cancellation of lease auctions

WAYNE Stenehjem, the attorney general of
North Dakota, revealed earlier this week that
the state had filed suit against the federal gov-
ernment, seeking compensation for the losses it
has sustained as a result of the cancellation of
auctions for oil and gas leases.
Stenehjem said in a statement that the state
government had initiated the legal action on July
7 by filing a complaint against the Department
of the Interior (DoI) and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) in the US District Court
for the District of North Dakota Western Divi-
sion. Bismarck took this step because the state
lost more than $80mn worth of revenue when
BLM decided to call off auctions scheduled for North Dakota AG Wayne Stenehjem (Photo: ND.gov)
March and June of this year, he explained.
The bureau’s actions were both illegal and Further cancellations could cause losses to
arbitrary, the attorney general argued. He multiply considerably, possibly to more than
pointed out that BLM was required by law to $1bn, the statement said. “Due to North Dako-
conduct such auctions regularly and had not ta’s unique ‘split estate’ land and mineral rights
secured the authorisation needed to call off the structure, BLM’s illegal actions have disrupted
May and June bidding contests. As a result, he the state’s programmes for efficiently managing
said, North Dakota’s state government now fears the state’s resources and are blocking the devel-
that the bureau will take the same approach to opment of significant state and private mineral
future auctions. interests,” it explained.

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