Calgary, April 12TH, 2002 – KeySpan Energy Canada’s Environment Manager, Rod Sikora, has received a committee award from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) for his commitment and dedication to the Clean Air Strategic Alliance’s (CASA) Flaring/Venting Project Team.
Since October 2000, Sikora and a multi-stakeholder team have been reviewing and recommending a “made in Alberta” solution to oil and gas flaring and venting issues.
Although elimination of flaring is not yet possible, Sikora and the rest of the Team are optimistic that their new “Gas Plant Flaring Management Framework,” will make a big difference in the industry. The new management framework is comprised of several aspects including the establishment of gas plant flaring limitations; compulsory public notification; evaluation of options; improvements in flaring performance and regulatory consequences for companies who don’t comply with industry standards. The new flaring limitations are designed to further restrict the regular or routine flaring at plants. The number and size of plant flaring events will now trigger a new regulatory response in accordance with the Alberta Energy Utilities Board (AEUB) Enforcement Ladder.
The Project Team has also confirmed an estimated 50-percent reduction in solution gas flaring in the province. The CASA group analyzed the massive industry reduction using the AEUB reporting system looking for opportunities to make further improvements.
“The net result of this group was very positive. We addressed a number of venting and flaring issues that will be acted upon by industry. The CASA consensus process develops solutions with quicker industry implementation than other regulatory approaches,” said Sikora.
The Flaring/Venting Project Team’s recommendations will be published this summer in a new CASA report and an up-to-date version of the AEUB’s Guide 60, which is a comprehensive document focused on addressing flaring and venting issues in the upstream petroleum industry.
Sikora was the team’s representative from the Alberta midstream gas processing sector, and attributes the success of the Flaring/Venting Project Team to both the experience he’s received working in KeySpan’s environment portfolio and the dynamics of the diverse peer group involved in this process.
“We had 19 stakeholders in the group representing a diverse cross-section of Albertans – everyone was at the table with a commitment to raising the bar,” said Sikora.
Sikora, who shares his time at work between KeySpan’s head office in Calgary and its gas plants near Rimbey, Rocky Mountain House and Drayton Valley, joined the multi-stakeholder group because of KeySpan’s interests in addressing a broader range of flaring and gas venting issues in Alberta. Further, Sikora welcomed the opportunity to work with senior representatives from industry, government and special interest groups like the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition to improve air-quality and resource conservation for the people of Alberta.
“Concerns have been expressed over the years, especially by residents living near flares, about the potential impact on health as well as that of their livestock and pets,” said Sikora, adding “we live and work in these areas too and a solution to flaring is in everyone’s best interest.”
Specific strategic actions were also recommended by the Flaring/Venting Project Team to help achieve future solution gas flaring targets along with additional guidelines to address public involvement, design standards and ways to improve flaring efficiency.
The Flaring/Venting Team also put together a management framework to address Well Test Flaring and Solution Gas Venting in Alberta. The next continuous improvement cycle on Flaring & Venting in Alberta will occur by CASA in the spring of 2003.
CAPP brought the issue of solution gas flaring to CASA in 1997 and the Flaring Project was born. Now, less than five years later, there are significantly less active flares in Alberta and plans for further reductions.
KeySpan Energy Canada is the largest independent natural gas midstream business in western Canada, providing a range of integrated gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation and marketing services. The company's assets include interests in 13 natural gas processing plants and associated gathering systems, with aggregate processing capacity of 1.4 billion cubic feet per day, along with natural gas liquids transportation, fractionation and storage facilities connected to the western Canadian NGL hub near Edmonton, Alberta.
For more information please call:
Rod P. Sikora, Environment Manager, KeySpan Energy Tel: (403) 205 8335, Cell: (403) 819 2240
Paul Hagel, PR Associate, Sparks & Associates, Tel: (403) 240 9392 Ext. 25, Cell: (403) 809 4406
