(Supplied by Andrew Penner)

By David Opinko

Alberta & Ottawa reach deal to reduce methane emissions from oil & gas

Nov 5, 2020 | 1:43 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Over the next five years, Alberta will see a reduction in methane being emitted by the oil and gas sector.

The federal government has finalized agreements with Alberta and Saskatchewan that will replace federal regulations with provincial ones. A similar deal was made with B.C. earlier this year.

“I am pleased the federal government has reached equivalency agreements with Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan to reduce methane emissions from their oil and gas sectors,” says federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. “These efforts lay the groundwork for the next steps we need to take as a country to exceed our 2030 climate target.”

By 2025, the national goal is to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas by 40-45 per cent below 2012 levels.

Alberta’s target is to lower emissions by 45 per cent from 2014’s levels over the next five years.

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(Supplied by Government of Canada)

“Nobody is better positioned to manage Alberta’s emissions than Alberta,” says Alberta’s Environment Minister Jason Nixon. “Reaching a methane equivalency agreement with the federal government is a major step in our continued work to effectively reduce methane emissions, and will help job creators meet our environmental goals while saving money and avoiding unnecessary red tape.”

The federal government recently launched the $750-million Emissions Reduction Fund, in part, to help achieve these goals.

Alberta’s government has its own $52-million Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system to support methane programs and cut 1.5-megatonnes of emissions right away.