S&P Global Launches Comprehensive Framework for Assessing Reliability of Estimates of Greenhouse Gas Intensity for Crude Oil - Seite 2

Each source of inconsistency was systematically reviewed, and specific guidance was developed that addresses the core areas where differences continue to exist between estimates. These areas include Land-use Change, Fabrication and Construction, Purchased Fuels, Electrical Trade, Coproducts and Units.

To address the issue of data quality, the S&P Global study introduces the new Data Quality Metric (DQM). The DQM builds upon established principles of data quality and the existing Data Quality Indicator (DQI) framework to provide a quality metric that is more specific to oil and gas.

The S&P Global DQM was developed in accordance with three key principles:

• Reliability. The degree to which an estimate can be depended on to be accurate (e.g. the comprehensiveness of underlying data)
  
• Representativeness. To what degree can an estimate be expected to reflect reality (e.g. to what degree does the data represent the asset or assets in question).
  
• Utility. The ease in assessing or assembling and interpreting the metric.

Emphasis was placed on ease of communication in the development of the DQM. A simple letter grade scoring system was devised with the ability to indicate if estimates have been verified by an independent, third party. The interpretation of the resulting DQM was designed to be consistent regardless of whether it is an assessment of individual stage or of a complete life cycle.

“Data quality really does matter, and it is a source of differentiation between estimates which has been unappreciated,” Birn said. “The creation of the Data Quality Metric has the potential to be a meaningful tool for GHG estimators, from companies to third parties, to allow users to assess the uncertainties and limitations of different GHG estimates. “Assessing and communicating estimate quality is absolutely critical for the market to have confidence in GHG estimates.”

To demonstrate the utility of the new S&P Global The Right Measure guidance, the study compiled a benchmark representing the average intensity of crude oil consumed in North America. The average represents a comprehensive assessment of the average product life-cycle GHG intensity of crude oil processed in the United States in 2019. This was done to demonstrate the utility of the guidance but also provide a public benchmark which others following a similar method may be comparative to.