The Methane Emissions of the LNG Lifecycle 6:01 Min. by Oilfield Witness, Mar 4, 2025
This video tracks the methane emissions associated with the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) using optical gas imaging videos captured by Oilfield Witness which make the invisible methane emissions visible.
This video is a compilation of optical gas images captured by Oilfield Witness. The majority of these video clips are from videos already existing on our site with full explanations. The following is the technical information for the new video footage featured in this compilation.
Oilfield Witness requested that TCHD Consulting LLC perform a technical assessment of the optical gas imaging (OGI) videos that it recorded on the island of Japan from February 1 – 3, 2025.
While in Japan, Oilfield Witness used a Teledyne FLIR G620 OGI instrument during the field assessment. Organizational field staff are technically qualified to operate the instrument by attendance at a three-day 24-hour manufacturer-led training class from the Infrared Training Center (ITC) that required testing and proficiency demonstration. To maintain these qualifications, field staff must also be recertified every five years and must regularly use OGI technology during off-site oil and gas and industrial field assessments.
OGI instruments were first manufactured in the United States (U.S.) as a handheld instrument that became publicly available in 2005. Teledyne FLIR manufactured OGI instruments are a non-contact remote sensing technology that allows for the visual detection of compounds that have an infrared absorption in the 3.2 – 3.4 micrometer range. Infrared energy is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that cannot be seen with the human eye. Many hydrocarbon gases of interest have infrared transmittance in this range including but not limited to methane. Though combustion of hydrocarbon gases may result in differing components such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide, natural gas and liquid natural gas (LNG) typically contains +90% methane, thus emissions visualized by the instrument are expected to be primarily composed of methane.
The JERA Futtsu LNG facility was assessed on the water via a boat on February 3, 2025. Several high quality OGI videos were recorded from a boat.
Although water vapor was present, singular steam plumes were visible to the bare eye arising adjacent to the storage tanks. Despite this, the OGI instrument detected a large prevalent emission plume that surrounded the storage tank battery, as the emissions were visible to the OGI instrument but were not visible to the bare eye. Significant methane emissions that were not visible to the bare eye but were detectable by the OGI instrument were being actively released to the environment by the plant and generally hung over the entire surrounding airshed around the facility. The videos also documented emissions from the same two tall vertical stacks that were documented on February 1 when on land. The heated emission plumes that lost excess heat content within feet of being released allowed the instrument to positively identify the presence of air emissions that were primarily composed of methane. The adjacent vertical rectangular-shaped stack continued to release emissions that were not visible to the bare eye but were detectable by the OGI instrument, as the plume lofted high into the airshed at a substantial distance from the source.