That saved plant fuel is a marketable energy product that could be captured and sold rather than being lost due to inefficiencies, intentional venting by plant instruments, inadequate controls and ineffective preventive measures. The economic case for conservation can be made regardless of whether gas markets are up or down. When prices are high, the value of fuel gas rises. In market lows, revenue from additional gas available for sale might provide the difference in staving off losses.

In 2007, about 12 per cent of all the gas produced in Alberta was used as processing plant fuel. At the latest CETAC-West workshop, presenters emphasized that the proportion of gas used as fuel
is increasing.

In the early years, operators who converted to the conservation gospel were not always supported by their employers. But starting in 2006, with industry support, recommendations arising from the audits were brought together in a manual of 17 best management practices.

For CETAC-West, the latest workshop represented a turning point. While earlier meetings largely built the case for fuel gas savings, the latest one emphasized taking action.

Supporters of the new conservation code include the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Small Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, Gas Processors Association of Canada, Energy Resources Conservation Board, Alberta Energy and Natural Resources Canada.

CAPP posts the code on its website but that is no substitute for hands-on learning. The trip to Kananaskis Country enabled field personnel to learn, evaluate and discuss the best management practices.

The workshop enabled expert presenters to explain benefits. For example, Frank Zahner noted that engines and compressors are the biggest users of fuel gas, burning up close to 60 per cent of the total. Saving just 10 per cent of gas used in the big motors would be a gain of $168 million annually, estimated Zahner, an engineer with Accurata Inc., a Calgary firm that specializes in rotating equipment consulting.

Tim Hearn of Sirius Instrumentation and Controls Inc. noted that there are 50,000 pneumatic instruments in Canadian plants that are “high-bleed” or use large amounts of gas. Replacing just 10 per cent with equipment that reduces or eliminates the use of instrumentation gas could yield savings worth $11.5 million a year. Hearn added that such changes would also significantly reduce emissions of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Just making the new best management practices known does not guarantee they will be followed. That became apparent at the workshop as field personnel swapped ideas in group discussions and the wrap-up session. Participants recommended dedicated commitment by industry to energy efficiency projects – especially fuel gas conservation.

It’s also important, said workshop participants, for companies to measure, track and set targets for fuel gas use and count its costs. Joanna Williams, a technical team leader at Shell Canada Energy’s Jumping Pound Complex, said “budgeting fuel gas will give it more visibility.” In translation, the way to build conservation into a company is to show
it the money.

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