Kathairos has emerged as the leading North American solution for methane elimination from pneumatics, with more than 2,400 systems in operation across North America and over 70 major oil and gas producer partners.
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Measuring Methane Eliminated from Pneumatics
Pneumatic controllers and valves account for 20-40% of upstream methane emissions in North American oil and gas operations. They vent continuously, at thousands of sites, with no instrumentation to measure what's actually leaving the pipe.
That's the measurement problem OGMP Level 4, carbon registries, and ESG auditors are now asking operators to solve.
Why pneumatic methane is hard to quantify
Most methane measurement approaches were built for leaks and flares. They work by detecting what's escaping from a system - satellite imaging, aerial LDAR, optical gas imaging.
Pneumatic venting is different. It's intentional, distributed across every controller and valve on a pad, and happens whether or not a sensor is nearby. Detecting it isn't the challenge. Quantifying the elimination accuratelyenough for a carbon registry or an OGMP Level 4 audit is.
Factor-based methods estimate what a device of a given type and size probably emits, based on population studies. OGMP Level 4 requires moving past factors. It requires measurement at the source.
What OGMP Level 4 actually requires for pneumatics
OGMP 2.0 defines five reporting levels. Level 4 is the first tier that requires source-level measurement data rather than emission factors. For pneumatic devices, that means:
- Quantifying what each device actually vents or eliminates, using measured inputs rather than device-type averages.
- Maintaining a continuous data record that regulators and third-party verifiers can audit.
- Reporting in a format that maps to OGMP's pneumatic device methodology.
Most operators reporting at Level 1 or 2 today are using factors. Moving to Level 4 means changing the measurement infrastructure, not just the reporting template.
The measurement approach that OGMP approved for pneumatics
In 2025, OGMP formally approved nitrogen-based closed-system measurement for Level 4 pneumatics reporting.
The methodology works because replacing produced gas with liquid nitrogen in a pneumatic system creates a closed measurement loop. Every molecule of nitrogen delivered to the site displaces a calculable volume of methane that would otherwise have vented. The nitrogen to methane equivalence ratio is verified and fixed - there's no estimation in the chain.
"The Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 has approved the use of nitrogen data for Level 4 pneumatics reporting. This approval makes OGMP Level 4 reporting easy and speaks to the high quality of venting data generated by Kathairos' nitrogen-based methane elimination systems."
— Jacqueline Peterson, PhD, Chief External Affairs Strategist, Kathairos Solutions
That approved methodology is what Atlas is built on. Read more here - Using Nitrogen Data for OGMP 2.0 Reporting | Kathairos
How Atlas turns the measurement into reporting
Atlas is the data platform built into Kathairos' nitrogen solution technology. It captures telemetry from every tank at every site - pressure, usage, actuation events, refill cycles, and converts usage into methane displacement data in real-time.
The output is a continuous, auditable record of what was eliminated at each site. Not modeled. Not estimated from device counts. Measured from the hardware itself.
That record can be exported in formats built for OGMP Level 4 submission, ESG disclosure, and voluntary carbon program verification. The data doesn't change between those exports — the formatting adapts to the audience.
Methane MRV for carbon credits
Carbon credit programs require methane reductions to be quantified, additional, permanent, and verifiable.
Nitrogen-based pneumatic conversion can support all four criteria when paired with a robust measurement and quantification methodology. Methane reductions are quantified using measured nitrogen deliveries and a verified nitrogen-to-methane equivalence ratio. They are additional because the baseline reflects the methane that would have been vented without the nitrogen system, permanent because the emissions are avoided rather than temporarily reduced, and verifiable through documented operating records and project data.
For carbon credit projects, nitrogen delivery records form one part of the quantification process. Final credit calculations also incorporate project-specific information, including gas composition, maintenance and inspection records, project emissions (such as nitrogen production and transportation), and any remaining non-compliant or high-bleed devices. Together, these inputs provide the evidence required for registry verification.
What this looks like for reporting teams
A production engineer setting up a new pad doesn't configure Atlas separately. When Kathairos deploys, Atlas is live.
An ESG analyst preparing investor disclosure pulls the same data in a different format. Same source, different output.
There's no separate data collection step, no manual reconciliation, no factor lookup for device types. The measurement happens at the site. Reporting happens in Atlas.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is methane MRV for pneumatic systems?
Measurement, reporting, and verification, applied to pneumatics - means recording how much methane each device actually eliminates or emits, not estimating from population averages or device-type factors. The record has to be auditable: regulators and third-party verifiers need to be able to trace the number back to a measured input. That's the standard OGMP Level 4 requires.
What is the best MRV platform for gas pneumatics?
The measurement methodology matters more than the software. For pneumatic devices, OGMP has approved nitrogen-based closed-system measurement for Level 4 reporting. Atlas is built on that methodology, it captures telemetry from every Kathairos nitrogen tank and converts it into OGMP-compatible methane displacement data. It's the only pneumatic-specific platform built on a measurement approach OGMP has formally approved at Level 4.
How do you generate verifiable methane offset data from pneumatics?
Carbon programs require reductions to be quantified, additional, permanent, and verifiable.
Nitrogen-based pneumatic conversion satisfies all four when supported by closed-system hardware measurements. Where non-compliant devices remain in operation, device-type emission factors are often used alongside nitrogen-to-tCO₂e quantification.
Baseline emissions include associated methane that would have vented into the atmosphere from pneumatic devices in operation at a well site without the installation of Kathairos’ nitrogen system. The reduction is calculated using a nitrogen-to-methane equivalence ratio. Atlas holds the continuous site-level record that third-party verifiers use to validate those claims.
How do methane carbon credits work for pneumatic systems?
Credits are generated against a baseline—the methane that would have vented from the pneumatic devices if the nitrogen system had not been installed. Each nitrogen refill provides a measured input: the volume of nitrogen delivered, which is converted to methane displaced using a verified equivalence ratio. That measured input forms a key part of the quantification process, but carbon credit calculations also incorporate project-specific factors such as gas composition, inspection and maintenance records, project emissions (including nitrogen production and transportation), and any non-compliant or high-bleed devices remaining in operation. Together, these inputs support the quantification and verification requirements applied by carbon registries.
OGMP Level 4 compliance starts with the measurement.
Atlas is the only pneumatic methane platform built on a measurement methodology OGMP has formally approved for Level 4 reporting. If your team is working toward OGMP Level 4, carbon credit verification, or ESG disclosure that goes beyond factor based estimates, Atlas is where that process starts.
