The industry regulator has revised down recent monthly volumes for methane vented at the Kimmeridge oil well in Dorset to almost nothing.
The new data suggests that earlier this year Kimmeridge vented nearly 100% less in seven months than had previously been reported.
The Kimmeridge site, in a world heritage site, has been controversial because official figures previously showed it released the largest monthly volumes of methane into the atmosphere of any UK onshore oil field.
Methane is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, particularly in the short term. Its ability to trap heat over 20 years is at least 86 times greater than carbon dioxide.
Venting on oil sites is usually allowed only in an emergency. Methane is more usually converted to carbon dioxide by burning in a flare, or electricity generator.
The government’s climate advisor, the Climate Change Committee, has recommended stronger targets for venting and flaring on UK oil fields. DrillOrDrop has reported on plans by the Kimmeridge operator, Perenco, to reduce both venting and flaring.
“Unexpected vented volumes”
The recently revised data came to light during research for our regular update on monthly oil and gas production data. Some monthly volumes of total vented gas from UK onshore fields appeared to have been reduced retrospectively.
We asked the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which compiles and publishes the data, about the changes.
A spokesperson said:
“it appears that during our routine scrutiny of reported volumes against consented volumes we were alerted to unexpected vented volumes in a particular field and worked with the Operator to fix the historic errors. This translated to a reduction in the volume of vented gas recorded in our databases over the affected period.”
The spokesperson would not reveal the name of the site.
But DrillOrDrop confirmed it was Kimmeridge by comparing the revised figures with reports in earlier data downloads.
This showed that monthly volumes of vented gas at Kimmeridge between December 2022 and June 2023 were revised down from an average of 47ksm3 (thousand standard cubic meters) to an average of 0.48ksm3.
The total gas released between those dates was reduced from 326ksm3 to 3.36ksm3, a cut of more than 98%.
As a result, the total volume of vented gas at UK onshore oil sites was also revised down from more than 880ksm3 to 548ksm3 between December 2022 and June 2023.
Another 29 UK onshore sites have reported volumes for vented gas since October 2016, when data was first published. The largest volumes have been from Horndean, Corringham, Scampton, Beckingham, Stockbridge, Rempstone, Hatfield and East Glentworth.
DRILL OR DROP? 
Excellent research!
In other words, the fuss about almost nothing, on scrutiny was found to be what? A fuss about nothing!
Par for the course.
They don’t say why the original figures were incorrect however the revised figures look very much in line with previous figures, so look believable.
One crisp winter morning in Sweden, a cute little girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products ruining the earth. She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks. “What’s this?” she asked.
“Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother.
“What happened to the carpet?” she asked.
“The carpet was nylon, which is made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,” came the response.
Greta smiled, acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, and moved to the sink to brush her teeth where instead of a toothbrush, she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fibre bristles.
“Your old toothbrush?” noted her godmother, “Also nylon.”
“Where’s the water?” asked Greta.
“Down the road in the canal,” replied her godmother, ‘Just make sure you avoid water with cholera in it”
“Why’s there no running water?” Greta asked, becoming a little peevish.
“Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?” There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal, and that’s tough to do with only electricity as a source of heat, and even if you use only electricity, the wires need insulation, which is petroleum-based, and though most of Sweden’s energy is produced in an environmentally friendly way because of hydro and nuclear, if you do a mass and energy balance around the whole system, you still need lots of petroleum products like lubricants and nylon and rubber for tires and asphalt for filling potholes and wax and iPhone plastic and elastic to hold your underwear up while operating a copper smelting furnace and . . .
“What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta, whose head was hurting.
“Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” replied her godmother. “Raw.”
“How so, raw?” inquired Greta.
“Well, . . .” And once again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and in the end was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. Not that you can find oranges in Sweden anymore.
“But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta.
“Tilda died this morning,” the godmother explained. “Bacterial pneumonia.”
“What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.”
“Not anymore,” explained godmother “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies using as fuel Swedish fences and furniture, which are rapidly disappearing – being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.”
This represents only a fraction of Greta’s day, a day without microphones to exclaim into and a day without much food, and a day without carbon-fibre boats to sail in, but a day that will save the planet.
Tune in tomorrow when Greta needs a root canal and learns how Novocain is synthesized.
Meanwhile, I note a 2.9 EARTHQUAKE was reported in Cornwall on Sunday. Could it be linked to the seismic activity recorded during drilling in Cornwall for geothermal? Obviously, utilizing that infamous excuse loved by the activists, the precautionary principle will need to be applied and a nation wide moratorium on all geothermal development will follow.
As for Swansea Bay lagoon, then no blasting of granite blocks on the Lizard either.
Not to worry, E-G, I understand UK strategic companies will have Government assistance!
In other words, UK tax payers already paying through the nose for their energy will pay higher taxes to keep their jobs in UK, so they can continue to earn to pay the high taxes. All for the 1% whilst the activists are continually stating it is not working globally. Ever seen the hamster on a wheel?