United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and Radiation
(6202J)
—
(••••tllM
EPA430-K-04-004
February 2004
www.epa.gov/gasstar
PIONEER
NATURAL RESOURCES
Pioneer Natural Resources
Natural Gas STAR
Case Study Series
ioneer Natural Resources prides itself on its
commitment to the environment and good
corporate citizenship. Since joining
Natural Gas STAR, Pioneer has reported
methane emissions reductions of nearly 2 billion cubic feet (Bcf),
which has had both a positive impact on the environment as well
as the companys financial bottom line. The strong commitment of
Pioneer's staff at all levels—-from facility operations to top-level
management—has enabled the company to quickly implement a
highly successful methane emissions reduction program. At the
2001 Annual Natural Gas STAR Implementation Workshop, EPA
recognized Pioneer Natural Resources as a Gas STAR Rookie of the
Year for outstanding implementation of its Natural Gas STAR
Program within the first year of joining. Building on this early suc-
cess, Pioneer reported the most emissions reductions of all processing
partners in 2002 and was recognized as the Gas STAR Processing
Partner of the Year.
NUMtt NtOflU
Pioneer Natural Resources is an independ-
ent exploration and production company
that was formed in 1997 through the
merger of Parker & Parsley Petroleum and
MESA, Inc. Although Pioneer has both an
international and domestic presence, the
majority of the company's oil and gas
reserves are located within the United
States. Pioneer is the largest operator in the
Spraberry oil and gas field in West Texas
and one of the largest operators in both
the Hugoton gas field in Kansas and the
West Panhandle gas field in Texas. Pioneer
operates two gas processing facilities—Fain
in the Texas panhandle and Satanta in
Kansas—with a combined maximum daily
throughput of 360 million cubic feet
(MMcf) of gas per day. The majority of
the gas processed is extracted from
Pioneer's reserves, although the facilities
also process small volumes of third-party
gas. Pioneer also owns and operates several
smaller gas treating plants, including the
Ulysses plant in Kansas.
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Joining
Natural (!as JlAR
Pioneer joined Natural Gas STAR as a charter
member of the Program's processing sector in
2000. The decision process started one year earli-
er after Pioneer's president received a letter from
EPA announcing the expansion of the Natural Gas
STAR Program to the processing sector. Following
receipt of this letter, managers in both Pioneer's produc-
tion and processing business units were asked to weigh
the pros and cons of joining Natural Gas STAR and to
provide management with a recommendation.
As part of the decision-making process, Pioneer's
managers discussed with EPA the responsibilities of
partner companies and the benefits of partnership.
Representatives from Pioneer also contacted several
companies that were already partners in the Program
to learn of their experiences. At the same time, the
Gas Processors Association (GPA), which had recently
announced its endorsement of the Program, encouraged
the company to join.
Initially, managers expressed some reservations, includ-
ing concerns that joining the Program could expose the
company to increased risk of audits by EPA. However,
after discussions with other partners and review by
Pioneer's General Counsel, the managers decided that
the benefits outweighed the perceived downside.
Pioneer also determined that participation would not
result in an additional tracking and recordkeeping bur-
den because the company was already tracking emis-
sions reductions. In the end, both Pioneer's production
and processing business units concluded that participa-
tion in the Natural Gas STAR Program would benefit
the company by:
• Enhancing Pioneer's emissions reduction tracking
and recordkeeping system, providing a permanent
record of its greenhouse gas emissions reductions,
and adding credibility to its accomplishments.
• Formalizing Pioneer's commitment to the
environment and enhancing its corporate
environmental policy.
• Helping the company identify additional
emissions reduction opportunities and reaping the
associated financial rewards.
• Allowing Pioneer to exchange technical
information with other Gas STAR partners.
• Helping reduce the company's environmental
liabilities.
• Demonstrating good corporate citizenship and
fostering a positive environmental image.
• Allowing Pioneer to report methane emissions
reductions already achieved back to 1990.
Taking these benefits into consideration and realizing
that participation would be a positive next step in the
company's commitment to environmental initiatives,
Pioneer joined the Natural Gas STAR Program.
(letting
Started
hen Pioneer joined Gas STAR, the company
was able to aggressively begin implementation
of a comprehensive methane emissions reduc-
tion program due to strong support from top-
level management. The company began by naming a
representative from the engineering group at headquar-
ters as the Natural Gas STAR Implementation Manager
coincident with creating new foreman positions at each
Pioneer facility. Each foreman was assigned the respon-
sibility of managing environmental issues, including the
company's participation in the Natural Gas STAR
Program. Operations personnel at Pioneer's processing
and treating facilities were intro-
duced to the Gas STAR
Program during regular
meetings with head-
J quarter's engineering
A staff. Operations per-
sonnel were informed
of management's
commitment to the
Program and were
encouraged to partici-
pate. Corporate man-
agement made it clear at
the outset that the opera-
tions staff would be the front
line of Gas STAR implementation, as they are most
familiar with the gas processing and treating operations
and in the best position to identify emissions reduction
Pioneer Natural Resources
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
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opportunities. According to Henry Galpin, Vice President
of Gas Processing, "Once the operations personnel were
made aware of the goals that Pioneer was trying to
achieve through its participation in Natural Gas STAR, it
was very easy to get them on board and actively
involved."
To launch Pioneer's participa-
tion in the Natural Gas
STAR Program, the
company reviewed
past and current
methane emissions
reduction activities.
This information
helped the compa-
ny formulate its
implementation
plan, prioritize emis-
sions reduction proj-
ects, and set realistic
goals. At the same time,
Pioneer reviewed EPA's tech-
nical support documents—such as
Lessons Learned Studies and PRO fact sheets—to learn
more about methane emissions reduction technologies
and practices that have been used successfully by other
Gas STAR partners. In doing this, Pioneer discovered it
was already implementing some of the Gas STAR best
management practices (BMPs). Instrument air systems
had already been installed at Pioneer's Fain and Satanta
plants, and flash tank separators had been installed on
glycol dehydrators at Fain, Satanta, and Ulysses prior to
the company joining the Program.
The effort to document, calculate, and report past methane
emissions reductions was a large undertaking, but one that
was very important to Pioneer. The information gathered
allowed the company to permanently record its efforts to
improve environmental performance prior to joining Gas
STAR and allowed the company to determine the effective-
ness and cost savings associated with methane emissions
reduction activities. This activity, in turn, helped motivate
operations staff and enhanced employee participation in
Gas STAR. This data collection effort also allowed Pioneer
to build on the established lines of communication
between the engineering and operations departments and
helped the company set up an efficient and streamlined
Gas STAR tracking system that is still in use today.
Implementing
the Program
Natural Gas STAR goals have quickly become an
important part of the corporate environment at
Pioneer, and the Program is integrated into every-
day operations at all of its facilities. By centralizing
management of the program through the engineering
staff at the headquarters office in Irving, Texas, Pioneer
has been successful in improving both communication
across the organization and the efficiency of data collec-
tion. Pioneer's headquarters office maintains direct con-
tact with facility operators on a daily basis. As a result,
Pioneer has developed a streamlined system for tracking
the progress and results of its methane emissions reduc-
tion projects. Process data, including information rele-
vant to Gas STAR, are collected daily by facility opera-
tors and submitted to the engineering staff. The engi-
neering staff performs the appropriate calculations to
determine the methane emissions reductions associated
with projects. This streamlined, continuous data track-
ing system allows for a constant collection of methane
emissions reduction data that can easily be aggregated
for inclusion in Pioneer's annual Gas STAR report.
Employees from all levels of the company are invited to
participate in Natural Gas STAR, and many employees
attend the Program's technology transfer workshops and
meetings throughout the year. Operations staff are con-
tinually encouraged to identify
additional emissions reduc-
tion opportunities that
can be implemented at
Pioneer's facilities. In
addition, manage-
ment demonstrates
its support by
attending Gas
STAR workshops
and meetings with
operations and engi-
neering staff and by
publicizing Gas STAR
achievements within the
company on its Intranet.
Process engineer James Meier,
who is responsible for collecting Gas STAR data from
processing and treating facilities, believes that "open
\
Pioneer Natural Resources
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
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communication among all parties involved has been a
key factor in the success of Pioneer's Natural Gas
STAR Program."
An example of how Pioneer relies on cooperation and
communication between all staff to reduce methane
emissions was evident during a recent methane emis-
sions reduction project at Pioneer's Fain processing
plant. The idea to convert compressor start-ups from
natural gas to compressed air originated with the oper-
ations staff at Fain. The concept was then forwarded to
process engineers at headquarters to investigate the fea-
sibility of implementation and the associated econom-
ics for presentation to management. Because senior-
level staff at Pioneer recognize the importance of the
company's Gas STAR
Program, the project
received almost imme-
diate approval
despite an initial
capital expendi-
ture of approxi-
mately $225,000.
Capital costs
included installa-
tion of a station-
ary electric air
compressor, an air
receiver tank, and
piping between the
new air compressor and
the reciprocating and centrifu-
gal compressors located throughout the plant. Pioneer
estimates that replacing natural gas with compressed air
for start-ups will reduce methane emissions at the Fain
plant by approximately 6.5 MMcf per year. The project
was so well received that Pioneer plans to convert com-
pressors from starting gas to starting air at the compa-
ny's Satanta processing plant.
In addition to involving personnel at all levels, Pioneer's
environmental efforts have become more formalized.
Although there is no specific reward system for propos-
ing new methane emissions reduction projects, environ-
mental performance is part of some employees' job
requirements and factors into yearly performance
reviews. This level of integration makes all employees
aware of the importance of the company's environmen-
tal programs, such as its commitment to Gas STAR, and
enables them to contribute to a successful methane
emissions reduction program as part of their daily job
requirements. Pioneer's management also recently issued
a corporate environmental policy that formally solidifies
Pioneer's long-standing commitment to reducing the
company's environmental footprint, which in turn, helps
bolster employees' commitment to the company's Gas
STAR Program.
-Employing Innovative
Technologies and Practices
^B rom the outset of Pioneer's participation in the
Natural Gas STAR Program, the company placed a
T^^m high priority on identifying and implementing
I innovative technologies and practices to reduce
methane emissions. Because of its familiarity with the
facilities, Pioneer's operations staff regularly submit ideas
for new emissions reduction projects to engineering.
These ideas are then explored by both operations and
engineering staff and subsequently passed up to manage-
ment. Potential projects are discussed at regular meetings
where engineering presents management with the proj-
ect details along with cost/benefit information. Because
management recognizes the importance of methane
emissions reduction projects, these projects typically
receive approval.
Pioneer has reported various methane emissions reduc-
tion activities in annual Gas STAR reports as Partner
Reported Opportunities (PROs). By implementing
PROs, Pioneer has been able to enhance its emissions
reduction activities by employing its own initiatives
tailored to its specific processes and equipment.
Through 2002, Pioneer implemented 19 different PROs
resulting in more than 1.8 Bcf of methane emissions
reductions and saving the company $5-5 million (at $3
per million cubic feet). Some of these PROs include:
• Modifying compressor shutdown logic. Pioneer
modified the shutdown logic for compressors at the
Fain and Satanta processing plants to prevent auto-
matic blowdowns when shutdowns occur. The shut-
down logic was switched from automatic to manual
to allow units to be restarted without blowing
down. Not all compressors were modified for safety
reasons; however, Pioneer is consulting with com-
pressor manufacturers to determine if additional
compressors can be modified.
• Installing amine unit to reduce NRU derimes.
Pioneer installed amine treating units to remove
carbon dioxide from produced gas, and subsequent-
ly reduced the number of derimes conducted on the
Pioneer Natural Resources
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
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nitrogen rejection unit (NRU) at the company's
Satanta plant. Each time the NRU is shutdown,
methane is vented to the atmosphere. Removal of the
carbon dioxide from the gas stream reduced the num-
ber of NRU shutdowns from as many as four times
per year, to less than one.
Installing heat tracing on control valves. Pioneer
installed heat tracing at the Fain processing plant to
prevent control valves from freezing open and thereby
releasing gas to the atmosphere until the valves could
be manually closed.
Installing gas condensate pipeline. Pioneer installed a
gas condensate pipeline at the Fain plant to eliminate
trucking of condensate, which vented vapors during
loading operations. This project allowed Pioneer to
recover a significant amount of methane that would
have otherwise been lost.
Piping TEG flash gas to amine flare header. Pioneer
installed piping to route triethylene glycol (TEG)
flash gas to the Satanta facility's amine flare. Prior to
this project, the flash gas—with a methane content
of 90 percent—was vented to the atmosphere.
Installing vapor recovery on slug catcher. Pioneer
installed a vapor recovery system on the three-phase
separator at the Fain plant. Gas captured by the vapor
recovery unit is recycled back into the plant inlet
rather than vented.
[flaintaining
flomentum
Pioneer maintains company support for their Gas
STAR Program by continually seeking to implement
new methane emissions reduction projects whenever
feasible. Although the company has made great strides
in a relatively short period of time by implementing numer-
ous methane emissions reduction projects, it is hoping to do
more to move beyond the "low-hanging fruit." Pioneer's
engineering staff recognizes that advances in technology are
always being made, and it continues to evaluate opportuni-
ties for emissions reductions. Pioneer also recognizes that
continuing education is critical to generating new project
ideas. The company plans to utilize Gas STAR Program
information on new technologies and practices implement-
ed by their Gas STAR peers in the processing sector and
continue to participate in Gas STAR technology transfer
workshops. In addition, Pioneer plans to assist EPA in
development of technology transfer documents for the Gas
STAR Program based on some of the projects the company
has implemented. Pioneer is very proud of its accomplish-
ments and plans to continue being a leader in the Natural
Gas STAR Program.
mm
Pioneer's operations and engineering staff are always thinking about how Gas STAR goals can be incorporated
into a plant's routine operations. New methane emissions reduction projects under consideration include:
• Extending flare header piping to capture compressor blowdowns. Pioneer is evaluating the feasibility
and economics of extending the flare header piping to connect blowdowns on compressors that can-
not tolerate logic change. The company is considering routing emissions from those compressors for
which the shutdown logic cannot be modified to the onsite flare rather than venting.
• Converting pneumatic control panels to electric control panels. Pioneer is also considering converting
pneumatic control panels to electric control panels at remote compressor stations. This project is pri-
marily driven by safety issues, but is also expected to reduce methane emissions. The project will
include four compressors at two different compressor stations.
Pioneer Natural Resources
Natural Gas STAR Case Study Series
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Pioneer's Emissions Reductions (Bcf)
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Annual • Cumulative
1999 2000 2001 2002
Since joining Natural Gas STAR, Pioneer has reported aver-
age methane emissions reductions of more than 288,000
Mcf each year. Through 2002, the company has achieved
total reductions of 1.84 Bcf equivalent to $5.52 million in
savings.
"We're all concerned about the
environment and want to do
our part. Participation in the Gas
STAR Program is a formalized
way to show that we are com-
mitted to it and we're not just
out there trying to make an easy
dollar. Pioneer's operations staff
live in the areas in which they
work, so they are very commit-
ted to protecting the environ-
ment. Through the Gas STAR
Program, we can demonstrate
our corporate support and com-
mitment, and that helps them
feel good about going to work
in the morning."
- Henry Galpin, Vice President of
Gas Processing
Secure Active Management Support. Pioneer
has a successful Natural Gas STAR Program
because top-level managers are involved.
Management has been on board with the
Program since the start. Management support
ensures that Gas STAR projects regularly receive
funding, and the staff has the time and resources
to accomplish projects. More often than not, pro-
posals for methane emissions reduction projects
receive funding because management under-
stands their importance. Pioneer's President and
CEO, Scott Sheffield, is updated on the compa-
ny's Gas STAR achievements during senior man-
agement meetings.
Involve Personnel at All Levels. Engineering and
management staff at headquarters recognize that
the operations staff is the front line of Gas STAR
implementation. Operations personnel are the
ones that make things happen and come up with
many ideas for reducing methane emissions. Not
only are operations staff involved in formulating
great ideas, but many employees participate by
attending Gas STAR technology transfer work-
shops and the annual Gas STAR implementation
workshop—events that both engineering and
management staff attend as well. By actively
involving all staff, Pioneer builds continuity for its
Program, as well as allowing the operations staff
to take ownership of these activities.
Maintain Program Momentum. The implementa-
tion of methane emissions reduction projects at
Pioneer is an ongoing process. Operations and
engineering personnel are continually encour-
aged to find and report additional emissions
reduction activities and practices. To keep ideas
flowing, open lines of communication are
encouraged between all levels of the company—
management, engineering, and operations.
Regular communication between those groups
ensures that methane emissions reductions are at
the forefront of everyone's minds. In addition,
Pioneer's engineering staff conduct regular onsite
meetings with the operations staff. During these
meetings, the benefits and importance of
methane emissions reduction activities are
emphasized, which in turn motivates operations
staff and ensures that Program momentum is
maintained.
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