Across the natural gas value chain, operators are looking for ways to better understand and manage their methane emissions. Whether driven by internal sustainability goals, participation in voluntary frameworks like OGMP 2.0, or a desire to benchmark performance across assets accurately, one need keeps rising to the top: consistent, high-fidelity data.
But achieving that consistency isn’t easy, especially when your operations span everything from remote onshore facilities to complex offshore platforms and LNG terminals. Each site has its own infrastructure, its own monitoring limitations, and often, its own measurement tools. That patchwork can make meaningful emissions monitoring and comparisons extremely difficult.
The Cost of Inconsistency
Different monitoring methods yield different results, and those variations can be significant. An onshore production site scanned with aerial LiDAR might produce detailed, quantifiable data, while an offshore platform using handheld sensors might generate only qualitative observations. Elsewhere, emissions might be estimated based on activity data or engineering models.
The problem? Inconsistent measurement leads to inconsistent decision-making.
Without comparable data, operators struggle to:
- Benchmark performance across facilities, regions, or business units
- Reconcile source- and site-level emissions as part of OGMP 2.0 or internal protocols
- Track emissions over time with confidence in what’s changed and why
- Set meaningful reduction targets based on real-world performance
- Make high-stakes operational or investment decisions backed by trusted data
When measurement methods vary, so do the insights. And in a world where even voluntary disclosures are becoming more data-driven, consistency is a strategic advantage.
What Consistency Really Means
Consistency requires regular scans, but it also necessitates collecting high-resolution, quantifiable, repeatable data that aligns across all assets regardless of size, location, or facility type.
Specifically, consistent emissions data should:
- Detect a broad range of leak sizes
- Accurately quantify leak rates (not just observe them)
- Pinpoint emissions to specific sources or equipment
- Be collected using methods that can be repeated and trusted over time
- Be comparable across all operational segments
And crucially, good data should have the same measurement standards applied from production to processing to export.
Closing the Gap Offshore
Until recently, offshore facilities have been a weak link in this chain, not because of neglect, but because of limitations in the available tools.
Manual methods require extended time on site and don’t offer the precision needed to reconcile with other parts of the business. Satellite tools lacked spatial resolution. And unreliable methods of monitoring made year-over-year comparisons difficult.
Bridger Photonics is working to change that with GML for Offshore: a UAV-based extension of our trusted Gas Mapping LiDAR® technology. By combining two tools, UAV GML (which detects and localizes individual leaks) and the Flux Curtain method (which quantifies total site emissions), operators can now collect consistent, high-fidelity data at offshore facilities just as they do onshore.
No lengthy deployments. No blind spots. No gap in data quality.
A New Baseline for Operational Clarity
For companies participating in OGMP 2.0, managing ESG dashboards, or simply looking to compare performance across assets, this level of consistency is foundational.
It means you can:
- Reconcile emissions from source to facility
- Identify where the biggest opportunities for reduction exist
- Monitor changes with confidence, without second-guessing your data
- Maintain credibility across business units and public-facing disclosures
Even when external reporting isn’t required, consistent data builds trust internally with operations teams, executives, and stakeholders making long-range decisions.
Future Data Is Consistent Data
As operators scale across basins, countries, and asset types, they need the tools they use to measure emissions to scale with them. UAV-based GML is one way to do just that, bringing best-in-class detection and quantification to every facility, from desert wellpads to deepwater rigs. Consistency brings clarity, and clarity leads to better decisions, better performance, and smarter methane management.
Ready to learn more about how GML for Offshore supports high-fidelity emissions monitoring across the full natural gas value chain? Explore the technology.