US NOAA study finds high ozone levels in Jonah/Pinedale gas field
Houston (Platts)--23Jan2009
A federal study of air conditions in a rural area of southwestern Wyoming
with an intensive level of natural gas production found incidents of high
concentrations of ozone in winter that rival those experienced in cities in
the summer months, data shows.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists found that
activities related to energy development can contribute to conditions that
cause ozone to form in cold weather at levels threatening to human health. The
study examined ozone levels in the area of the Pinedale Anticline and Jonah
gas fields in Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin.
The study's results, published January 18 in the journal Nature
Geosciences, also theorized that other gas fields in the US West and Canada,
as well as certain areas in energy-producing nations such as Russia,
Kazakhstan and China, could have similar ozone problems.
"There's never been well documented and proven production of ozone in
winter, especially in really cold temperatures anywhere in the US that we're
aware of," Russell Schnell, author of the study, said in an interview.
Schnell, deputy director of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in
Boulder, Colorado, said there are two reasons why little is known about ozone
formation in rural settings, such as the Jonah/Pinedale area.
"It isn't measured in many places because it's not required," he said.
"Second, the oilfield effluents in this area may be in a unique physical
location and also might have some unique characteristics, which coupled with
the meteorology -- when you get a really strong cold air mass over you that
makes inversions -- it may be a unique mix."
Schnell said the number of incidents in which the Jonah/Pinedale area
exceeded the EPA standards of 75 parts per billion over an eight-hour period
is likely to prompt the agency to extend existing ozone regulations to the
area.
"If the exceedances continue, in the worse case they're going to have to
shut down production during the events," he said.
The economic impact of forced shutdowns of gas operations could be
significant, Schnell said. In 2007, the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline fields
together produced more than 700 Bcf of gas, about 2 Bcf/d, valued at about $4
billion, the study says.
Ozone is a secondary pollutant formed when concentrations of nitrogen
oxide and volatile organic chemicals come in contact with each other under
certain conditions. At sustained concentrations as low as 40 ppb, ozone can
affect lung capacity and cause lung damage, especially in children, Schnell
said.
John Corra, director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality,
said the agency likely will use the NOAA study to formulate new regulations
for gas producers in an attempt to limit the production of ozone precursors,
nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds.
"We have revised our minor-source air permitting policies to where we
have tightened up considerably on the permit conditions for new sources in the
area," he said.
In 2008, DEQ officials met with representatives of the major gas
developers in the Jonah field and Pinedale Anticline areas -- EnCana, BP,
Shell, Questar, Ultra and Anschutz -- to encourage the operators to "develop
some contingency plans for this current winter," to reduce the emissions of
ozone precursor chemicals if weather conditions were to become favorable for
the production of ozone.
--Jim Magill, jim_magill@platts.com
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