* BP to use drones, fixed cameras to monitor methane leaks
* Company seeks to limit methane emissions to sub 0.2%intensity
By Ron Bousso and Matthew Green
LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - BP is introducing continuousmonitoring of methane leaks at new oil and gas projects usingdrones and surveillance cameras, in a bid to cut emissions ofthe potent greenhouse gas to near zero.
The technology, which could encompass BP's entire outputwithin a decade or so, comes as the oil and gas industry facesmounting pressure from investors and activists to cutheat-trapping emissions to meet 2015 Paris Climate Agreementgoals.
In what it said was an industry first, London-based BP saidmethane detecting and measurement technologies will be deployedat all its new projects globally to cut the volume of methaneproduction it loses as emissions to below its current target of0.2%.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, leaks fromoil and gas wells, pipelines and processing facilities. It hasmore than 80 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxidein the first 20 years after it escapes into the atmosphere.
The oil and gas sector's methane emissions reached 80million tonnes in 2017, roughly 6% of the sector's globalgreenhouse gas emissions, according to the International EnergyAgency.
Methane emissions "remain high despite initial industry-ledinitiatives and government policies announced recently.Implementing abatement options quickly and at scale remains areal challenge," IEA analyst Christophe McGlade said.
The Trump administration is weighing rescinding Obama-eralimits on oil and gas industry methane emissions, a move thatsparked a backlash among environmentalists, institutionalinvestors and some oil companies.
In 2017 and 2018 BP's methane emissions were slightly belowthe 0.2% target set in 2016 and should hold beneath that levelthis year, Gordon Birrell, BP chief operating officer forupstream, told Reuters in an interview.
The company said this year it would improve disclosurearound emissions and show how its investments meet the Parisclimate goal to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degreesCelsius. Analysts claim that some of its investments since 2018were not in line with the Paris goals.
GAME CHANGER
Oil companies have traditionally measured methane escapesthrough calculations and estimates.
The use of infrared cameras mounted on robots, drones orlocated on site allows constant monitoring, detection andmeasurements of leaks with much higher precision, Birrell said.
"Technology is the key in my view to emissions reduction. Wesee lots of opportunity for the use of technology to reducemethane and other emissions and get all the benefit of naturalgas," he said.
Funding for the project will come from the $1.5 billion BPhas earmarked for maintaining assets.
BP recently launched a drone from the Shetland Islands innorthern Scotland to detect and measure methane emissions fromits Clair platform, located nearly 100 km offshore.
"Remote facilities can be monitored from very close up,"Birrell said. "It is quite a game-changer in terms of methanedetection."
BP will also deploy the technologies at a number of existingproduction facilities, including in Oman and Azerbaijan.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Jan Harvey)