*Brandt, A.R., M.S. Masnadi, J.G. Englander, J.G. Koomey, D. Gordon. Climate-wise oil choices in a world of oil abundance. Environmental Research Letters DOI: 10.1088/1748- 9326/aaae76
OPGEE: The Oil Production Greenhouse gas Emissions Estimator
Figure 1. Estimated upstream GHG emissions from 5 "generic" crude oil pathways modeled using OPGEE v1.0a.
Current research suggests that GHG emissions from petroleum production can be quite variable. Some oil production facilities can have quite low emissions if they do not rely on energy intensive production methods and implement effective controls on fugitive emissions sources. In contrast, some crude oil sources can have higher GHG emissions per unit of energy produced if they rely on energy-intensive production methods or process large volumes of fluids per unit of energy produced.
The Oil Production Greenhouse gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE) is an engineering-based life cycle assessment (LCA) tool for the measurement of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the production, processing, and transport of crude petroleum. The system boundary of OPGEE extends from initial explo- ration to the refinery entrance gate.
OPGEE is built for maximum transparency, using public data sources where possible and being implemented in a user-accessible Microsoft Excel format.
Current stable model and documentation
OPGEE model v2.0 - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released February 13th, 2018)
Model development versions [not for citation or distribution - use current version above]
See the OPGEE GitHub page for the current version of the model under development: OPGEE developer page
A service called xltrail is used to track changes to the OPGEE .xlsx binary files: OPGEE xltrail edit record
Older versions [Posted for reference only, please use current version above]
OPGEE model v2.0b - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released July 17th, 2017)
OPGEE model v2.0a - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released March 27th, 2017)
OPGEE embodied energy supplemental calculation [XLSM] (Released September 30, 2015)
OPGEE model v1.1 Draft E - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released June 4th, 2015)
OPGEE model v1.1 Draft D - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released October 10th, 2014)
OPGEE model v1.1 Draft C - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released July 10th, 2014)
OPGEE model v1.1 Draft B - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released March 11th, 2014)
OPGEE model v1.1 Draft A - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released March 5th, 2013)
OPGEE model v1.0 - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSM] (Released September 17th, 2012)
OPGEE model v1.0 Draft A - Documentation [PDF], Model [XLSX] (Released June 25th, 2012)
PUBLICATIONS
2018
*Masnadi, M.S., D. Schunack, Y. Li, S.O. Roberts, A.R. Brandt, H.M. El-Houjeiri, S. Przesmitzki, M.Q. Wang. Well-to-refinery emissions and net-energy analysis of China?s crude-oil supply. Nature Energy. DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0090-7
2017
Cooney, G., M. Jamieson, J. Marriott, J. Bergerson, A.R. Brandt, T.J. Skone. Updating the US life cycle GHG petroleum baseline to 2014 with projections to 2014 using open-source engineering-based models. Environmental Science & Technology DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02819
Gvakharia, A., E.A. Kort, M.L. Smith, J. Peischl, J.P. Schwarz, A.R. Brandt, T.B. Ryerson, C. Sweeney. Methane, black carbon, and ethane emissions from natural gas flares in the Bakken Shale, ND. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05183
Masnadi, M.S., Brandt, A.R. Climate impacts of oil extraction increase significantly with oilfield age. Nature Climate Change (2017).DOI: 10.1038/nclimate3347
Wang, J., O'Donnell, J., Brandt, A.R. Potential solar energy use in the global petroleum sector (2017) Energy, 118, pp. 884-892. DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.10.107
Yeh, S., Ghandi, A., Scanlon, B.R., Brandt, A.R., Cai, H., Wang, M.Q., Vafi, K., Reedy, R.C. Energy Intensity and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Oil Production in the Eagle Ford Shale. Energy & Fuels DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b02916
2016
*Brandt, A.R., T. Yeskoo, S. McNally, K. Vafi, S. Yeh, H. Cai, M.Q. Wang. Energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions from tight oil production in the Bakken formation. Energy & Fuels. DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b01907
Cooney, G., M. Jamieson, J. Marriott, J. Bergerson, A.R. Brandt, T.J. Skone. Updating the US life cycle GHG petroleum baseline to 2014 with projections to 2014 using open-source engineering-based models. Environmental Science & Technology DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02819
2015
Brandt, A.R. (2015) Embodied energy and GHG emissions from material use in conventional and unconventional oil and gas operations. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI:10.1021/acs.est.5b03540.
