Sixty U.S. gas pipelines are still trying to figure out whathappened to 106 Bcf of gas last year. The methane simply vanishedinto thin air at a cost of more than $200 million, according to asurvey of FERC Form 2 data by GRI. The GRI research shows that onaverage, each of those interstate pipes lost about 4.8 MMcf/d.

The most troubling part in this case of the missing molecules isthat the evidence points to many culprits, according to GRI’sCharles E. French, program manager of measurement.

“I think measurement [inaccuracies are] a major contributor, butthere are a lot of other contributors in companies’ operatingresults,” said French. “What’s true for one company may not be truefor another. It’s really very difficult to generalize on thesubject as to what the primary determinant is.”

GRI research shows that measurement inaccuracies can account formuch of the lost and unaccounted for (LUAF) gas and a newunderstanding of measurement technology can significantly increasemetering accuracy. However LUAF gas can also be caused by equipmentflaws, accounting errors, pipeline configurations, meter stationdesign, compressor station leaks, gas composition, data reportingpractices, poorly defined standard practices and inadequatetraining of personnel.

French notes that 290 MMcf/d is quite a lot of gas to lose, butit’s only a fraction of a percent of what is shipped by pipelinesevery day, which totals about 62 Bcf. Nevertheless, any loss of gasis a major concern for pipelines.

“Lost and unaccounted for gas has long been a difficult andimportant issue for the industry,” said French. “Pipelines have anintense interest in this issue – both operationally andfinancially.”

And apparently they have been making some improvements in thisarea. According to GRI, the same pipelines who lost 106 Bcf lastyear lost about 143 Bcf/year on average from 1991-1996.

GRI is working with the pipelines to develop technology andapproaches to reduce measurement errors, said French. GRI hascreated a comprehensive program that it offers to individualcompanies. It includes a three-phase set of carefully managedprocedures and a team of industry experts who evaluate the resultsand recommend remedial action.

“Unfortunately there’s no silver bullet or quick remedy thataddresses this problem. The only solution lies in old fashioned,detailed detective work,” said French. “But the payoff from suchpainstaking effort can be substantial.”

For more information on this subject, contact French at (773)399-8243, or cfrench@gri.org.

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