Among a wave of net-zero pledges and ESG commitments from the oil and gas industry, Chesapeake Energy Corp. is aiming to differentiate itself.

The Oklahoma City-based company unveiled on July 14 a new collaboration with non-profits MiQ and Equitable Origin to provide independent certification of its natural gas production. The partnership will initially certify production across Chesapeake’s Gulf Coast asset before expanding into its Appalachia asset—making Chesapeake the first company to certify production across two major shale basins, according to a company release.

“Leading a responsible energy future is core to Chesapeake’s values,” commented Board Chairman Mike Wichterich in the release.

Upon emergence from bankruptcy earlier this year, Chesapeake set out to truly turn over a new leaf by aiming to become a gas producer operating under the strictest ESG standards and a pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) direct emissions by 2035. This also included exploring for ways to meaningfully lower the methane and GHG intensity of its production across its portfolio of assets located across multiple U.S. shale basins such as a pilot project with Denver-based startup Project Canary announced in April.

With its new collaboration with MiQ and Equitable Origin, Chesapeake said it will start to receive independent certification of its natural gas production under the MiQ methane standard and the EO100TM Standard for Responsible Energy Development that covers a broad range of ESG criteria while also providing a verified approach to tracking its commitment to reduce methane intensity.

In his statement, Wichterich, who is also serving as interim CEO, described the new partnership with MiQ and Equitable Origin as “another important step” for Chesapeake Energy in achieving its pledge to reach net-zero direct emissions.

“Chesapeake’s multibasin portfolio and the technical expertise of our talented employees provide the company a unique operating platform to play a leadership role in delivering responsibly sourced natural gas to users around the world,” he added.

By 2025, Chesapeake Energy aims to have reduced its methane intensity to 0.09%. Chesapeake anticipates that the certified natural gas from the MiQ and Equitable Origin partnership will be available by year-end 2021 in the Gulf Coast Basin and second-quarter 2022 in the Appalachia Basin.

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MiQ is a non-profit partnership between RMI and SYSTEMIQ pioneering a market-based approach to rapidly reduce methane emissions across the natural gas sector. Meanwhile, Equitable Origin, another non-profit organization, has created the first market-based mechanism to recognize and reward responsible energy producers and to empower energy purchasers through independent, site-level certification.

Rival shale gas producer EQT Corp. has also partnered with the two non-profits to certify its natural gas production, according to an announcement in April.

“It is great to see the continued growth of certified natural gas in the U.S. natural gas market, and we are delighted to once again be working with Equitable Origin to provide Chesapeake third-party audited, independently verified certification for its natural gas,” said Georges Tijbosch, senior adviser for MiQ, on July 14.

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