Methane detection pact for TotalEnergies, ONGC

TotalEnergies and ONGC in India partner to detect and measure methane emissions. (Image: TotalEnergies)

TotalEnergies and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) have agreed to conduct methane emission detection and measurement campaigns with technology supplied by TotalEnergies.

The technology, Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA), consists of a dual sensor capable of detecting and quantifying methane and carbon dioxide emissions while identifying the source of these emissions. This technology, mounted on a drone, marks a real advance in the detection and measurement of methane emissions compared to conventional techniques, according to TotalEnergies. By making it possible to reach emission points that are difficult to access on any type of industrial site, both onshore and offshore, AUSEA is one of the most precise technologies in the industry, the company said. The technology was developed by TotalEnergies and its partner, AUSEA.

The cooperation agreement was signed for TotalEnergies by Dr. Sangkaran Ratnam, Country Chair of TotalEnergies in India, and for ONGC by Ms. Sushma Rawat, Director (Exploration) of ONGC.

ONGC joins a number of companies that have signed cooperation agreements with TotalEnergies for the use of AUSEA, including Petrobras in Brazil, SOCAR in Azerbaijan, Sonangol in Angola and NNPCL in Nigeria.

“Our industry’s priority to fight climate change is to reduce methane emissions from our operations. Moving towards zero methane emissions by 2030 is a common goal pursued by all OGDC signatories at COP28. We are pleased to collaborate and make our AUSEA technology available to ONGC in India to detect, measure and ultimately reduce methane emissions at their own facilities,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.

Shri Arun Kumar Singh, Chief Executive Officer of ONGC, said ONGC is seeking new technologies to reduce its methane emissions by 50% by 2027 and 80% in 2030 compared to 2020. The deployment of AUSEA will allow the company to continue our efforts to achieve zero methane emissions by 2038, he said.

After halving its methane emissions at its sites operated between 2010 and 2020, TotalEnergies has set targets to reduce its methane emissions by a further 50% in 2025 and 80% in 2030 compared to 2020.