ONGC and ISRO planning for Satellite Methane Monitoring

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is currently in negotiations with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to use its satellites for more affordable and accurate detection of methane leakage at all of its facilities across the country.

The state-run corporation is a signatory to the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter (OGDC), a worldwide industry initiative introduced at COP28, and intends to cut methane emissions by 50% by 2027 and 80% by 2030 compared to 2020.

Fugitive emissions represent a lost income opportunity for the company. ONGC already uses emission data from the European Space Agency’s TROPOMI satellite.

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ONGC reports its fugitive methane emissions, also known as leakages, under Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations, which estimate methane emissions at 4-6% of total carbon emissions.

“Our goal is to move from estimates to measured data by leveraging advanced technologies to capitalize on opportunities lost due to fugitive emissions,” said Deepak Tandon. He is ONGC’s executive director and chief of carbon management and sustainability.

“What we currently use is open-source data, which are very coarse and so aren’t as effective as we would like them to be,” Tandon told.