350bcf of methane certified gas available for trading as entire gas supply chain opens up for certification

BOULDER, CO and LONDON, April 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MiQ has announced that 350bcf of U.S. produced Independently Certified Gas (ICG) is currently available on its Digital Registry ready for trading.

The development marks a step-change in the potential for methane abatement across the oil and gas industry, by creating the transparency needed to enable buyers and producers to differentiate gas based on its methane emissions.  

The volume of ICG, which has been issued over the last six months, equates to over 100 LNG cargoes. It includes both MiQ and EO100TM certificates - the only credible and independent standards on the market for certified natural gas.  

This comes as the entire gas supply chain opens for certification, with the launch of MiQ's Certified Supply Chain. Each stage of the supply chain, from production to boosting and gathering, processing, transmission and storage, liquefaction, LNG shipping and regasification is given a methane intensity grade that feeds into the overall grade for the final MiQ Certificate.

This model allows buyers to compare, for the first time, the upstream methane emissions of purchased gas on a level playing field globally.

The transparency this system creates on methane emissions ensures that environmental concerns can be considered alongside cost and supply issues.

Georges Tijbosch, MiQ's CEO, said: 

"With 350bcf of Independently Certified Gas ready for transacting on MiQ's Digital Registry, we have succeeded in creating a market capable of rewarding better methane emissions performance.

"This shows that certification is moving into the status quo, and with the entire supply chain now available for certification, there really are no limits to the rapid abatement of methane emissions from oil and gas"

As global demand for gas increases, MiQ provides a ready-made solution for assessing the methane emissions.

The MiQ Registry is the single source of truth on MiQ Certificates, tracking certified gas from production through to the retirement by the end user. The Registry creates transparency about methane emissions, preventing double-counting and enabling end users such as utilities to claim the environmental credentials for their GHG reporting.

MiQ has implemented an ultra-low fee structure for its Registry, meaning traders and buyers can use it to both transact and retire certified gas at near zero cost, while producers pay a nominal fee for certification. The low-cost is designed to accelerate the development of the market for certified gas and ultimately drive huge reductions in methane.

Following the launch of the Certified Supply Chain, MiQ is poised to announce the first agreement with LNG exporters.

Notes to Editors

MiQ is the fastest growing and most trusted methane reduction accelerator. MiQ pioneered the use of Independently Certified Gas (ICG) to accelerate the wholesale reduction of methane emissions and is working with the world's biggest oil and gas companies to provide the data to drive change.

MiQ's Standard is:

✅Independently assessed by third party auditors
✅Transparent with a publicly viewable standard
✅Technology neutral
✅Globally applicable
✅Granular with certification at asset level

The oil and gas industry alone emits over 84 million tons of methane each year. This equates to the emissions from the world's on-road transport fleet or more than the entire industrial sector's CO2 emissions. According to the IEA, 75% of methane emissions from oil and gas production can be technically abated today. As such, preventable methane emissions from the oil and gas sector present a significant opportunity to reduce emissions this decade.

MiQ Certification will, for the first time, credibly differentiate gas based on its methane emissions performance to provide a market mechanism that incentivizes methane reduction. MiQ's vision is to create a market where certified natural gas can be traded like other historical commodities ultimately creating pricing differentials and thereby incentives to drive down methane emissions across the board.

MiQ has also announced partnerships to certify natural gas with several of the world's largest producers.

SOURCE MiQ