In 2020, the United States had more than 930,000 hydrocarbon-producing wells. Some 870,000 of them yielded less than 100 barrels of oil per day. These wells represent the bottom-quartile of the well stock as measured by annual production. Unfortunately, such wells are often maintained less frequently than the higher-rate, higher-value wells within an operator’s portfolio, leading to frequent hydrocarbon leaks into the environment and atmosphere.
In fact, wells in the lowest production category yielding less than 1 barrel of oil equivalent per day in the United States produce just 0.2% of oil and 0.4% of gas, yet account for a disproportionately massive 11% of annual methane emissions from all U.S. oil and gas production.
In the U.S. alone, early retirement of bottom-quartile wells could avoid 1 Gt CO2e per year—greater than the annual total GHG emissions of Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy.
At ZeroSix, we incentivize producers to shut wells early and turn unextracted, unburned oil and gas into high-integrity carbon credits. Along the way, we’re bringing the world closer to net-zero.
We take the least economic and most polluting wells
Apply the ZeroSix protocol and anchor proofs digitally
Irreversibly shut in oil and gas
Convert the shut-in reserves into carbon credits
Which are traded on the Voluntary Carbon Market
Buyers offset their emissions with the most accurate, additional, permanent and transparent carbon credits in the market
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