The oil and gas sector extracts and refines hydrocarbon resources from deep below ground.
Extracting these resources involves drilling a well into the production zone and then flowing the
raw production up the well and into processing facilities. To prevent adverse conditions in the
production network such as freezing and corrosion, several different chemicals are pumped into the production stream early in the production process. To overcome the down hole pressure in adding these chemicals, a special pump is used. Typically, these pumps use pneumatic pressure supplied
by a fuel gas line to actuate the pump, then the natural gas is vented to atmosphere. There are
currently over 100,000 of these pumps active in Alberta, each operating with a controller.
Instrument control devices on site are typically powered by freely available natural gas. Each
device has an associated bleed rate or vent rate which represents the volume of natural gas vented during normal operating conditions. These devices can be switched out to lower venting
alternatives, and/or compressed air may be generated on site which effectively removes the vented natural gas.