Saskatchewan’s oil and gas industry continues to reduce its emissions.
Numbers from the provincial government show in 2022, emissions from venting and flaring at upstream oil facilities decreased to 3.9 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, a decrease of 64 per cent below 2015 levels.
The province adds emissions from venting dropped 13 percent and flaring activities also dropped 10 percent from 2021 levels.
Venting refers to releasing methane into the atmosphere, while flaring means burning the gas, which generates carbon dioxide but greatly reduces the methane content.
Environment and Climate Change Canada, which publishes Canada’s official inventory of national and provincial-territorial GHG emissions called the “National Inventory Report”, was asked if the provincial numbers are in line with their data.
While Environment Canada couldn’t comment on the 2022 numbers since they’re compiling GHG emissions data for 2022, which will be available in April 2024, they did say the province’s GHG emissions for the oil and gas sector are consistent with federal policies for the period of 2015 to 2021.
