(Bloomberg) -- Tourmaline Oil Corp. is now the largest emitter of planet-warming methane in Canada’s energy heartland following a series of acquisitions in recent years.
The company vented 3,862.5 thousand cubic meters of natural gas in October, a threefold jump from September and a 25% increase from a year earlier. That’s about 84.8 metric tons a day, the highest in Alberta Energy Regulator data stretching back to the start of 2020, when the agency revised its fuel, flare, and vent gas definitions.
For the first time, Tourmaline’s emissions surpassed those of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s top overall oil and gas producer. Gas is primarily made up of methane.
“That is a huge source,” said Rob Jackson, a Stanford University climate scientist who has tracked the rise in methane. The US EPA defines super-emitters as releasing 100 kilograms per hour, he said. In October, Tourmaline emitted more than three times that amount.
Tourmaline declined to comment.
The surge in Tourmaline’s emissions comes as the world is at risk of losing its battle to tame methane emissions, despite pledges from about 160 countries and 140 companies to combat the potent greenhouse gas. Because methane traps much more heat than carbon dioxide in the short term, slashing its emissions is widely seen as one of the fastest ways to slow climate change.
Methane concentration in the atmosphere has more than doubled over 200 years and is estimated to account for 20% to 30% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution, according to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Emissions from the fossil fuel industry, including coal mining, are close to a record level set in 2019 as supply continues to expand, according to International Energy Agency data.
READ: Methane Emissions Keep Rising: Green Daily
Canada’s government has set the goal to cut oil and gas methane emissions by at least 75% by 2030 from 2012 levels.
Tourmaline’s emissions are increasing as its gas production grows following a series of recent acquisitions of other producers, including Bonavista Energy Corp. last year and Crew Energy Inc. The company’s gas output in Alberta was up more than 17% in the first ten months of 2024 versus all of 2023.
Tourmaline’s venting of gas generally increases during the colder months from October through March and falls off in the warmer seasons. Canadian Natural, historically the top venter in the province, has steadily decreased its venting in the past few years.
Bloomberg determined the metric tons of gas per day vented by converting from thousand cubic meters a month, based on Alberta Energy Regulator data posted on the Petrinex website. The conversion was made based on a US Environmental Protection Agency calculator whereby 1 cubic meter of the gas equals 0.0006802 metric tons of methane.
--With assistance from Aaron Clark and Zachary R. Mider.
(Adds Tourmaline response in fifth paragraph, year-over-year change)
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