Quantifying Cost-effectiveness of Systematic Leak Detection and Repair Programs Using Infrared Cameras

The report analyzes data from 4,293 surveys of oil and gas facilities to determine the economic viability of LDAR programs. It finds that while many individual facilities may experience a net cost, the aggregate abatement cost for gas plants and compressor stations is negative (net benefit), and remains very low for well sites. The study concludes that the vast majority of leaks are economic to repair once identified, and that increasing survey frequency further reduces emissions while keeping abatement costs relatively low.

• The analysis indicates that the vast majority of leaks are economically viable to repair once they have been identified, with over 97% of total leak emissions being worth repairing even at a low gas value of 3 USD/Mcf.
• More than 90% of gas emissions originate from leaks that can be repaired with a payback period of less than one year.
• From an aggregate perspective, LDAR programs for gas processing plants and compressor stations result in negative abatement costs (net benefits), while well sites and well batteries have abatement costs near zero in the base case scenario.
• At the individual facility level, the majority of sites show a negative net present value (NPV) for LDAR programs, particularly well sites and batteries due to lower leak rates, although the net costs remain relatively low.
• Increasing the frequency of surveys reduces remaining emissions but increases abatement costs; however, quarterly surveys still maintain abatement costs below 15 USD/tCO2e and 800 USD/tVOC.
• Including the cost-effective replacement of reciprocating compressor rod packing rings significantly increases the mitigation potential of LDAR programs, adding 21% to CO2e and 14% to VOC reductions without significantly affecting overall cost-effectiveness.
• The report suggests that its calculated abatement costs are likely overestimates for US facilities because the database primarily contains Canadian facilities that have already been subject to regular LDAR programs, meaning their leak rates are lower than typical US facilities.

APA

Saunier, S., Haugland, T., & Pederstad, A. (2014). Quantifying Cost-effectiveness of Systematic Leak Detection and Repair Programs Using Infrared Cameras. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/21094117/CATF_Pub_CarbonLimitsLDAR.pdf

Chicago

Saunier, Stephanie, Torleif Haugland, and Anders Pederstad. Quantifying Cost-effectiveness of Systematic Leak Detection and Repair Programs Using Infrared Cameras. Clean Air Task Force, 2014. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/21094117/CATF_Pub_CarbonLimitsLDAR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Saunier |first1=Stephanie |last2=Haugland |first2=Torleif |last3=Pederstad |first3=Anders |title=Quantifying Cost-effectiveness of Systematic Leak Detection and Repair Programs Using Infrared Cameras |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=March 2014 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/21094117/CATF_Pub_CarbonLimitsLDAR.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{saunier2014quantifying, author = {Saunier, Stephanie and Haugland, Torleif and Pederstad, Anders}, title = {{Quantifying Cost-effectiveness of Systematic Leak Detection and Repair Programs Using Infrared Cameras}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2014}, month = mar, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/21094117/CATF_Pub_CarbonLimitsLDAR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }