Gas Processors Association issues statement on gathering and processing methane study

TULSA, Okla., Aug. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Gas Processors Association (GPA) responded to the "Methane Emissions from United States Natural Gas Gathering and Processing" study released by the Environmental Defense Fund and published today in Environmental Science & Technology.

GPA President and CEO Mark Sutton said, "We are encouraged that this study shows much lower emissions on the processing side. The study shows that the processing sector has less emissions than EPA's Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which is the national inventory of greenhouse gas emissions that EPA conducts across industry segments.

"On the gathering side, the report concludes that emissions from gathering are underestimated. It is important to note that EPA recently proposed to expand its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule to include gathering and booster stations that would subject gathering and booster stations to new reporting criteria. GPA has been very active in that rulemaking and believes that rule, once finalized, would provide more clarity to the situation and a much more comprehensive view of emissions data."

The Gas Processors Association (GPA) has served the U.S. energy industry since 1921 as an incorporated non-profit trade association. GPA is composed of 130 corporate members that are engaged in the gathering and processing of natural gas into merchantable pipeline gas, commonly referred to in the industry as "midstream activities." Such processing includes the removal of impurities from the raw gas stream produced at the wellhead, as well as the extraction for sale of natural gas liquid products (NGLs) such as ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline. GPA members account for more than 90 percent of the NGLs produced in the United States from natural gas processing.

SOURCE Gas Processors Association