EQT Reaches Net-Zero Goals Early

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Emissions abatement goals were met ahead of schedule, in part due to the use of pneumatics and electricity during upstream operations, EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) said this week.

The largest natural gas producer in the U.S. by volume, EQT on Thursday says it reached net-zero emissions for Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gases ahead of its 2025 goal.

Scope 1 emissions refer to sources controlled and/or owned by a particular organization, while Scope 2 emissions refer to what came from the purchase of electricity or other forms of energy used by the company.

EQT says it reduced emissions by altering its upstream operations. The company says it replaced or retrofitted more than 9,000 pneumatic devices between June 2021 and December 2022. Since 2020, EQT says it has replaced diesel frac fleets with electric fleets powered by its own natural gas.

The pneumatics overhaul avoided about 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)-equivalent emissions through 2022. Electrifying its fleet resulted in avoiding as much as 50,000 metric tons annually since 2020, the company said.

Energy companies are looking at cleaner extraction methods. In the North Sea, SLB (NYSE:SLB) (Houston, Texas), formerly Schlumberger, is working on front-end engineering design (FEED) for a 12-well, all-electric production system for the Fram Sor Field for Norwegian major Equinor.

Equinor already has powered two of its oil and gas fields--Snorre and Gullfaks--with energy from the floating Hywind Tampen windfarm in the North Sea. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed profiles for Equinor properties in the North Sea, and click here for a full list of active projects reports.

On the other side of the North Sea, the British government's North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) found that electrification of offshore platforms could save between 1 million and 2 million metric tons of emissions every year.

The NSTA estimates that electrification will be such an integral part of the government's decarbonization strategy that field development plans may be in jeopardy without it.

EQT, for its part, said it set "bold" environmental goals for itself in 2019, aiming to cut 600,000 metric tons of emissions from its portfolio. Toby Rice, the chief executive officer of the company, said EQT is now the first "traditional" producer to reach net zero.

Rice said Thursday the accomplishment reflects a broad-based effort to work efficiently and cleanly, while driving shareholder value at the same time.

"However, EQT's becoming the first traditional energy producer of scale in the world to achieve this net-zero status is thanks to the low-emissions foundation established within our operating footprint in the Appalachian Basin--one of the largest, low-cost deposits of traditional energy in the world," he said.

The Appalachian Basin, spread out over parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York, is the largest inland natural gas producer in the U.S.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).