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Faults at a Shetland oil site caused its emissions of a potent greenhouse gas to nearly double last year, The Ferret has found.
The Sullom Voe oil terminal on the island released 422 tonnes of methane in 2023, more than it has in any year since 2015, analysis of figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) shows. In 2022 the site emitted 226 tonnes of the gas.
Methane is a powerful climate pollutant and emissions of it have the potential to heat the climate 80 times faster than carbon dioxide, although it lasts for a shorter period of time in the atmosphere. Short term reductions in methane are viewed by the UN as “the fastest way we have to avoid the worst effects of climate change”.
Sepa told The Ferret that the increase in methane emissions at Sullom Voe was a result of two issues with the flare which burns off excess gas at the site.
“We were notified of both issues at the time they occurred and worked closely with the operator to explore options to minimise the impact and seek a resolution to the problems identified,” a spokesperson for the watchdog told The Ferret. “We can confirm that both issues have been resolved.”
Methane releases are an Achilles’ heel for the oil and gas industry.
Richard Dixon, former director of Friends of the Earth Scotland
But one veteran environmental campaigner described two incidents in one year as a “particular embarrassment” for the company that runs the terminal, Enquest.
“Methane releases are an Achilles’ heel for the oil and gas industry,” former Sepa board member and Friends of the Earth Scotland director, Richard Dixon, told The Ferret.
“That means Enquest should have been extra vigilant when it comes to possible sources of methane releases, and extra responsive when any such releases started happening”.
Enquest declined to comment.
Fast action to reduce the amount of methane entering the atmosphere is seen as “essential” to slowing global warming and keeping climate targets within reach. Limiting methane pollution was a key part of discussions at the COP29 climate summit held in Azerbaijan last month.
The oil and gas industry has been accused of disguising the extent of its methane pollution and emissions of methane from the energy sector have reached record highs in recent years.
Other than landfill sites – which produce methane when organic waste breaks down – the Sullom Voe refinery was the second largest producer of the gas in Scotland last year. Shell’s St Fergus gas plant near Peterhead emitted more methane than Sullom Voe, but its emissions decreased between 2022 and 2023.
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Main image: john bateson
This story was updated at 10:02 on 18/12/2024 to note that Richard Dixon is the former director of Friends of the Earth Scotland.
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