A pragmatic approach to leak detection and measurement for use at liquefied natural gas production facilities

Methane emission measurement data allow gas facility operators to identify methane sources and prioritise mitigation decisions. Traditional screening methods use manual techniques which do not efficiently scale with facility size and complexity. Novel methane measurement technology development has the potential to improve the effectiveness and lower the cost of screening for methane emissions at large, complex facilities such as in liquefied natural gas production. As a signatory to the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, Woodside routinely acquires high-quality data to transparently report on methane emissions performance. In 2025, Woodside piloted an innovative approach for the detection of methane sources by evaluating aerial gas mapping at its onshore liquefaction facilities. The screening and quantification technology, deployed by helicopter, scanned two facilities in a single mobilisation, detecting emission sources at a component level. The aerial screening is complementary with manual ground-based techniques such as optical gas imaging and high-flow sampling to verify the sources identified. This hybrid approach proved to be an effective screening and measurement method to acquire insights on the location and materiality of methane emission sources. In this paper Woodside: (i) discusses why and how it deployed the aerial screening and measurements, (ii) describes the controls to ensure safe execution of the aerial deployment and (iii) shares the lessons learnt for other operators who could adopt a similar approach.