Methane Emissions from Ethane Exports

Methane Emissions from Ethane Exports – Rosselot 2025

Key takeaways

Ethane for Ineos’s Project One ethane cracker in Antwerp, Belgium will be sourced from U.S. shale gas, especially from the Appalachian Basin and Gulf Coast, transported as a cryogenic liquid.

In its climate risk report, Ineos reported expectations of superior greenhouse gas performance for its ethane cracker based on self-reported methane intensities from producers in the Appalachian Basin that are currently its main suppliers of exported ethane.

Methane emissions during production vary greatly from well to well, and at the same well vary greatly from time to time.

Studies using satellite and airborne measurements (e.g., MethaneSAT, Sherwin et al., 2024) consistently find methane emissions that are far higher than industry self-reported values. For example, measurement-based emissions in the Appalachian Basin were found to be 9.5 times higher than self-reported GHGRP emission estimates in 2023.

The MiQ certification process that acknowledges producers for low self-reported methane intensities lacks transparency because no information is shared with the public. For example, the methodologies used to calculate methane intensity for certified producers are not divulged, monitoring strategies and how their results inform methane intensities are not described, and certification grades are disclosed only if producers choose to share them.

In addition, there is no mechanism by which independent verification of methaneintensity claims by certified facilities could be conducted.

There is a risk of rewarding certified facilities for shifting assets that have high methane intensities due to age or other factors to other producers, which might result in a higher certification classification but does not reduce overall methane emissions from production.

Certified producers who flare methane instead of venting it reduce their methane intensity without any penalty for the increased CO2 emissions.

The climate impact of exported ethane Ineos’s reliance on producer-reported methane intensity misrepresents the full climate burden of exported ethane. After adjusting LNG supply chain inventories so that they mimic ethane supply chains, methane emissions during the production stage of exported ethane account for only about 20% of total supply chain emissions.