United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Kerr-McGee
Natural Gas STAR
Case Study Series
• • err-McGee has long believed
I that environmental steward-
^^^^ ship goes hand-in-hand with
\ corporate growth. Kerr-McGees participation in EPA's
Natural Gas STAR Program exemplifies this belief, highlighting
the company's history of looking for ways to eliminate methane
emissions while reaping the economic benefits of bringing more gas
to market. Kerr-McGee has reduced emissions by more than 8.5
billion cubic feet (Bcf) since 1992. At the 2000 annual Gas
STAR workshop, EPA announced Kerr-McGee as the Gas STAR
Production Partner of the Year in recognition of its methane emis-
sion reduction accomplishments. This case study highlights how
Kerr-McGee has adapted an integrated emission reduction pro-
gram to a successful partnership with Gas STAR.
MOfllE
Kerr-McGee Corporation, based in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is one of
the largest U.S. -based independent oil
and gas exploration and production
companies. Founded in 1929 as a
drilling operation in Oklahoma, Kerr-
McGee moved into refining in 1945.
In 1947, Kerr-McGee made history
drilling and completing the first com-
mercially productive well out of sight
of land. The well was on Ship Shoal
Block 32 in the Gulf of Mexico. In
2000, the company's natural gas sales
averaged 531 MMcf. Kerr-McGee
operates key facilities onshore in the
U.S., in the Gulf of Mexico, includ-
ing deep water, in the United
Kingdom sector of the North Sea,
and smaller exploration and produc-
tion activities in Ecuador, Indonesia,
Kazakhstan, and South China Sea.
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oinr
ural
Involvement with the Natural Gas STAR
Program was a common-sense move for Kerr-
McGee. When it joined in September 1996, the
company was already seeking ways to eliminate
emissions through its Environmental, Health, and
Safety (EH&S) division and the respective regional
operation departments. Wherever leaks were found,
a multi-disciplinary team, comprised of operations
and environmental staff, selected repair options
based on economic modeling and regulatory
requirements.
Kerr-McGee was first introduced to Gas STAR as a
result of an effort by EPA and the American
Petroleum Institute (API) to promote the program
to API's membership. At the time, Kerr-McGee's
EH&S director was a member of API's board of
directors. What he learned from meetings with
EPA established a basis for partnering with Gas
STAR. Specifically, Kerr-McGee's involvement in
the program seemed like a natural extension of its
environmental program, which already included
some of the Natural Gas STAR recommended best
management practices (BMPs). In addition, the
ability to create a permanent record of past, pres-
ent, and future emission reduction activities
through Gas STAR was an influential factor in
Kerr-McGee's decision to join.
Bringing a senior-level endorse-
ment of Gas STAR into the
decision-making process
made the idea of a part-
nership with EPA an
easier sell for the rest
of the company.
With strong support
from the corporate
office, all of Kerr-
McGee's gas-related
domestic business units
decided to participate in
the program.
• | err-McGee's early Gas STAR Program imple-
I mentation efforts relied heavily upon the
,^L^ active involvement of both operations and
I I environmental staff. According to Kerr-
McGee's STAR implementation manager, Stuart
Wittenbach, program implementation was really a
matter of building upon and maintaining internal
relationships with all the right people. Specifically,
tapping established relationships between EH&S
and operations departments from the beginning
was critical to the program's success.
The first example of Kerr-McGee's approach was
the development of the company's implementation
plan. Cooperation between environmental and
operations staff resulted in the development of a
quality implementation plan that helped to focus
the company's Gas STAR efforts. Kerr-McGee's
implementation plan highlighted three key areas of
activity, including:
1. Identifying program BMPs that the company
could integrate into all new facilities where
practicable.
2. Evaluating the usefulness of the BMPs and
partner reported opportunities (PROs) at older
facilities on a case-by-case-basis.
3. Conducting inventories of existing facilities to
determine and document past methane emis-
sion reduction activities.
In addition to the implementation plan, another
challenge early in the process was communicating
Kerr-McGee's program commitment throughout
the company. Based on the recommendation of the
EH&S staff, Kerr-McGee decided to use their
Environmental Excellence Teams to educate
employees about the program. The teams consist of
representatives from the company's U.S. Onshore
and Gulf Region operations. They were organized
in the early 1990s to encourage companywide
efforts for attaining environmental goals and com-
petition through an annual awards program. Kerr-
Kerr-McGee
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
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McGee officially launched the corporate Gas STAR
Program at the annual regional Environmental
Excellence Team meetings, where EH&S empowered
team members to take the methane emission reduc-
tion message back to their districts. EPA provided
Gas STAR Program materials to the Environmental
Excellence Teams to support this effort.
To complement the work of the Environmental
Excellence Teams, a letter from top-level manage-
ment announcing the new partnership was distrib-
uted to all employees to encourage their support.
"Top-down communication of environmental goals
and initiatives is standard operating procedure for
Kerr-McGee," Wittenbach said. "We pride ourselves
on our environmental ethic." This top-level support
also helped eliminate barriers to smooth program
implementation.
McGee's first activities
was to inventory all
past emission
reduction activi-
ties implemented
throughout the
company. As
part of this
effort, opera-
tions and EH&S
staff worked
together to collect
information on past
methane emission
reduction activities from as
far back as 1990. As a result, Kerr-McGee was able
to document these past reductions and found that
"If you are thinking about joining, there is no reason not to. You have the flexi-
bility to implement BMPs if they meet your economic criteria. Also, partnership
is a good way to bring more awareness and emphasis to methane emission
reductions."
-Stuart Wittenbach,
Kerr-McGee's Gas STAR Implementation Manager
.mplementmg
iU^ Prqgrai
• | err-McGee set up its Gas STAR effort as a cen-
I trally managed program, implemented inde-
,^L^ pendently throughout the North American
I I divisions. As the implementation manager,
Wittenbach is the central source for Gas STAR infor-
mation and is responsible for emission reduction data
collection. The EH&S division facilitates and cham-
pions emission reduction efforts for the company,
relying on its relationships with operations staff to
make it happen.
An example of how Kerr-McGee relies on coopera-
tion between EH&S and operations staff was evident
early in its implementation process. One of Kerr-
several of the Natural Gas STAR BMPs and PROs
were already in use in its operations, including the
installation of flares and vapor recovery units
(VRUs).
Another area where this cooperation has been critical
is in new facility construction. As part of its program
commitment, Kerr-McGee takes Gas STAR and
other pollution prevention measures into considera-
tion whenever the company launches a new con-
struction project or retrofits existing equipment.
"Maintaining relationships with key personnel in the
construction and maintenance departments ensures
EH&S participation whenever a new project is initi-
ated," Wittenbach said.
At the beginning of new construction projects or
maintenance efforts, Wittenbach works with project
Kerr-McGee
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
-------
team members to identify opportunities in which
Gas STAR BMPs and other pollution prevention
activities can be implemented. As the project
moves into the design and specification stages,
Kerr-McGee incorporates emission reduction tech-
nology when appropriate. This step is especially
important on new construction efforts, as integra-
tion of emission reduction technologies in the early
design stages can save a lot of time and effort asso-
ciated with installation of retrofit controls.
According to Wittenbach, economic benefits alone
can justify the incorporation of emission reduction
technologies in about 50 to 60 percent of new con-
struction and maintenance retrofits. "In the vast
majority of other cases, we incorporate the control
measures just to be a safe and responsible corporate
citizen," he said. Wittenbach said he finds explain-
ing the economic benefit of emission reductions in
terms of "money in the bank" as the most effective
approach—focusing on the connection between
captured gas and corporate profits.
Since Kerr-McGee became a Gas STAR partner, it
has continued to build and expand the company's
emission reduction efforts from its initial VRU and
flare installations, which were in place prior to
joining Gas STAR. Adding instrument air systems
in place of gas-actuated instruments, recapturing
vent gas from Wilden pumps for return to the
downstream pipe, and installing low-bleed pneu-
matics in areas where emissions were high have
substantially reduced gas losses for Kerr-McGee.
^% ssembling results is the other half of Kerr-
I McGee's program. Wittenbach relies heavily
JJ on established lines of communication to let
I I the operations staff know each year that it is
time to inventory new activities and report accom-
plishments. At the beginning of each calendar year,
Wittenbach sends out an e-mail to all of his field
contacts on the Environmental Excellence Teams
and asks them to complete their portion of a pre-
A set of guiding principles for Kerr-
McGee has contributed to its successful
experience with Gas STAR:
Build Alliances—EH&S staff have
become a mainstay within the ope
ations, construction, and mainte-
nance sections of Kerr-McGee. By
building alliances within those
departments, the company's Gas
STAR Program is able to stay
involved in nearly every project in
which an emission reduction oppor-
tunity exists, and it is able to gather
the necessary information for report-
ing program achievements.
Maintain Open Communication—
To ensure program awareness
throughout the company and to
gather the needed information fro,,,
field staff in all of its regions, Kerr-
McGee makes sure that open com
munication is maintained. From
weekly electronic communications
between the Environmental
Excellence Teams and the EH&S
division to the Gas STAR implemei
tation manager's meetings with key
staff in the field each month, Kerr-
McGee keeps everyone informed.
Involve Field Personnel—Field sta,,
are instrumental to successful pro-
gram implementation. Regular meet-
ings between the implementation
manager and field staff help ensure
that field personnel are well-
informed of the issues and know
how important they are to the suc-
cess of the environmental programs.
Kerr-McGee
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
-------
pared spreadsheet within 3 to 4 weeks. Most of the
annual emission reduction information comes to
Wittenbach through e-mail messages that he gathers
and consolidates into a single report.
As an environmental supervisor, Wittenbach also
travels to each of the districts monthly to meet with
field staff. As part of the annual data collection
effort, those meetings will often include working
with staff to inventory the necessary emission reduc-
tion activities. Wittenbach noted that, in many cases,
the field staff have so many issues to deal with every
day, reporting can be delayed due to time conflicts.
In these cases, Wittenbach will take time to help
gather and calculate data for the field staff to ensure
reports are made from each region.
i^erhaps one of the greatest challenges for Kerr-
jMcGee's Gas STAR Program was the company's
^^growth as a result of its merger with Oryx
I Energy Company. The merger of Oryx posed an
interesting scenario for the EH&S division in bring-
ing a new group of employees up to speed on Kerr-
McGee's environmental programs, including partici-
pation in Gas STAR.
According to Wittenbach, this transition was
smoother than anyone could have imagined.
Having heard about the Gas STAR Program before
joining Kerr-McGee, the new employees were excit-
ed to take part in the program and bring its emis-
sion reduction programs up to the level of its new
partner. Involvement in several other EPA volun-
tary partnership programs, including Green Lights
and Waste Wise, proved valuable in approaching
implementation of the Gas STAR Program at these
facilities.
A smooth integration resulted, and additional emis-
sion reduction inventories were added to the Natural
Gas STAR annual report. This occurred as a result of
cooperative efforts between the existing Kerr-McGee
team and new Kerr-McGee employees to gather
information on past emission reduction activities at
the acquired facilities.
^fo maintain the program's momentum,
I Wittenbach has worked within the company to
I keep the program visibility high. Information
I about Kerr-McGee's Natural Gas STAR Program
regularly appears in the Kerr-McGee newsletter. The
Gas STAR Program is also included in the company's
annual environmental training program and accom-
plishments are recognized in Kerr-McGee's annual
Environmental Excellence Awards.
To celebrate its 2000 Natural Gas STAR Production
Partner of the Year award, Kerr-McGee distributed
golf shirts with the Gas STAR logo to all employees
in its domestic onshore and offshore regions. The
company also plans to distribute program hard hat
stickers to all domestic onshore
and offshore field workers
and on-site contractors.
Finally, Kerr-McGee
had Partner of the
Year plaques made
for every domestic
location to display
at their site. Kerr-
McGee is very
proud of its accom-
plishments and wants
to promote its Natural
Gas STAR partnership to
all of its domestic employees.
Kerr-McGee
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
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Kerr-McGee's Emission Reductions (Mi
10,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000
2,000,000
>5 1996 1997 IS
Annual 15,047 15,047 17,874 107,817 1,390,573 2,322,980 2,322,980 2,322,980
Cumulative 15,047 30,094 47,968 155,785 1,546,358 3,869,338 6,192,318 8,515,298
Kerr-McGee averaged more than 1 Bcf of annual emission reductions since 1992.
Since joining Gas STAR in 1996, Kerr-McGee averaged more than 2 Bcf of emission
reductions per year.
Kerr-McGee's Savings from Emission Reductions
$30,000,000
$25,000,000
$20,000,000
J00,000
>,uuu,uOO
$90,282 $143,904
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Kerr-McGee has saved an average of $3.2 million annually since beginning a formal
emission reduction program.
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