Re-imagining how methane emissions from the oil and gas industry are tracked and analyzed to drive large-scale emission reductions
Project Astra
Project Astra is a global collaborative effort at the forefront of methane detection aimed at reducing methane emissions. The team is developing an innovative sensor network that will harness advances in methane-sensing technologies, data sharing, and data analytics to provide near-continuous emissions monitoring across oil and gas facilities in the Permian Basin, the world’s largest oil field, and feed information into decision tools.
This first-of-its-kind high-frequency smart monitoring system will transform the way methane emissions are detected—identifying sites with leaks, feeding data to a central system that can quickly notify field response crews and speed repair, increasing frequency of inspections, and providing an affordable, efficient solution to help reduce total methane emissions that contribute to climate warming.
The project, led by The University of Texas at Austin, includes Chevron, the Environmental Defense Fund, ExxonMobil, GTI, Microsoft, Pioneer Natural Resources Company, and Schlumberger, and aims to demonstrate a new approach using advanced technologies to help minimize releases into the atmosphere.
Partner Roles
UT-Austin—Scientific/research lead for the project
GTI—Deep technical and industry expertise for proving commercial viability
EDF—Technical expertise to drive environmental outcomes
Industry members—Deep technical and operational expertise for feasibility testing
Why is this work so important?
Methane is a considerable driver of near-term climate change, with a global warming potential 84-86 times that of carbon dioxide on a 20-year basis. It’s an important priority for reduction because, in addition to its potency, it degrades in the atmosphere after 10-20 years, meaning that action today can be felt in near future. According to the U.S. EPA, natural gas and petroleum systems contributed 30% to U.S. methane emissions.
The United States has become the world’s largest producer of natural gas and a major exporter. With more than 1 million existing oil and gas wells in the U.S., comprehensive and continuous monitoring of well sites and associated infrastructure is critical to one day ultimately prevent methane emissions.
Methane leaks can occur anywhere and anytime. If unknown or undetected, these leaks can persist for extended periods and result in significant emissions.
Project Astra is about testing a technology concept that can scale continuous monitoring to the entire industry – for companies big and small – at or below the cost of today’s monitoring technologies.
The team is developing an innovative high-frequency network of sensors that communicate measurements remotely, offering automated regional monitoring. Once operational, this kind of smart digital network would allow producers and regulators to pinpoint methane releases for mitigation and offer the ability to easily increase the frequency of measuring.
We’ve assembled the right innovators to work on this multi-year project, and we are committed to rigorously testing the best solutions that can deliver the fastest, least costly reductions and demonstrate the technologies with the potential to help an entire industry improve its methane performance.
Technical Project Phases
Sensor inter-comparison
Test sensor technology head-to-head to find out which existing technologies are suitable for this application under real-world operating conditions
Digital methane challenge—digital twin and network design
Develop a virtual simulation of the region to design the network and analytics
Pilot project
Identify and demonstrate to the industry a new methane detection innovation using real assets in the Permian Basin
Learn more at the Project Astra University of Texas-Austin technical website
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News
Path to Pilot Newsletter
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1: JULY 2021
Methane Sensor Inter-comparison Completed
Seven promising new methane sensor technologies were deployed and field-tested in The West Texas Methane Showdown, a pilot program that was launched in October 2020 and was completed in June 2021.
Chevron, Microsoft, and Schlumberger Sign Memorandum of Understanding
Three new companies join original partners EDF, ExxonMobil, GTI, Pioneer Natural Resources, and the University of Texas.
Collaboratory to Advance Methane Science to Fund Development of Pilot Region Digital Twins
Simulation of atmospheric concentrations in the Project Astra pilot region will guide network design and data analytics. Members of CAMS who are supporting the effort include Cheniere, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, Sempra LNG and SIEP, Inc. (Shell).
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