Audits and Inspections

Updated November 2024

In 2023, several audits and inspections were conducted to help improve industry compliance with the methane requirements. Below are some highlights of each of these initiatives. 

Audits

Audits are desktop exercises that mainly review information submitted by industry through various reporting programs or direct exchanges that result from interaction with duty holders. The following table provides audit statistics for 2021 to 2023.

Audit Type

2021 
Audits 
Conducted

2022 
Audits 
Conducted

2023 
Audits 
Conducted

2021
NNC
Issued

2022
NNC
Issued

2023
NNC
Issued

Aerial Surveillance

75

1035

0

0

0

0

Alt FEMP

2

0

0

0

0

0

FEMP

5

45

0

0

3

0

Fuel, Flare, Vent and Data Quality (data quality)

11

98

124

0

0

0

Fugitives

23

10

26

2

10

25

Methane Reduction Retrofit Compliance Plan (MRRCP)

6

45

0

0

1

0

Missing OneStop Submissions

30

27

76

30

27

76

Overall Vent Gas Limit

36

41

19

29

36

16

Venting – defined vent gas and crude bitumen fleet average

N/A

72

26

N/A

20

6

Pneumatics*

N/A

N/A

8

N/A

N/A

2

Compressors*

N/A

N/A

10

N/A

N/A

9

Dehydrators*

N/A

N/A

22

N/A

N/A

22

NNC = notice of noncompliance
* = new audit type for 2023

Inspections

We conducted 1231 methane inspections in 2023 (see table below). This is an 11% increase from 1111 audits in 2022. All issues leading to an unsatisfactory inspection (i.e., one where a notice of noncompliance was issued) were resolved. 

Year

2020

2021

2022

2023

Total Methane Inspections

214

948

1111

1231

Total Number of NNCs Issued

28

233

322

290

Total Number of Sites With Fugitive Emissions

123

308

279

253

NNC = notice of noncompliance