(Alberta) AER Manual 015: Estimating Methane Emissions

Last updated: 22 February 2022

The AER uses two systems for reporting methane emissions: Petrinex (https://www.petrinex.ca) and OneStop (https://www1.aer.ca/onestop/). The identifier for reporting volumes, masses, and inventories of equipment is the facility ID, which is assigned by Petrinex and used by both systems. Directive 060 requires that emissions be reported at the location that they occur. This means, where appropriate, vent gas and fugitive emissions are attributed to: a CS facility ID in the case of gas released from a licensed compressor station; a production string UWI in the case of gas released from a well site, or; the closest upstream facility ID to a gas release that is not already reported to a CS or UWI. 

 

Fugitive emission survey or screening frequencies in Directive 060 are based on facility subtypes or specific equipment (controlled tanks) present at a site, and the survey or screening activity must be reported to OneStop. SCVF/GM must be tested and reported in accordance with ID 2003-01, and fugitive emission volumes associated with SCVF/GM are not included in OneStop reporting. Unless otherwise required to measure or test a vent gas stream through Directive 017 or Directive 060, emissions may be estimated using emission factors or rates, the equations included within this document, or engineering estimates as described in Canada (2016). 

 

Site- and equipment-specific data should be used when quantifying and reporting emissions. While not a requirement, continuous direct measurement or periodic testing of individual emission sources is encouraged where possible and where these solutions would result in more accurate reporting of emissions than the methods discussed in this document. Requires that compressor seals be tested monthly. 

 

Governed by Alberta Energy Regulator

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