The amount of methane emissions that oil and gas production in the U.S. is creating is four times more than what the government is estimating, and eight times higher than many companies in the industry have agreed to target.
That data was compiled after aerial monitoring was done of production in the U.S. It also comes as a separate study on methane gas levels across the globe showed that increased emissions of this gas are creating new threats in the fight against climate change.
Ritesh Gautam is a researcher at the Environmental Defense Fund, and also the lead senior scientist on the MethaneSAT mission at the EDF. That’s an environmental group that’s developed methane monitoring that’s done from planes, and starting next year, it will be done via satellite.
He spoke to Newsweek recently, commenting on the situation:
“What we observe in our data is that the loss rate that we get is eight times higher than the industry pledges to reduce methane emissions.”
The measures of the methane gas came from in excess of 30 flights, Gautam said, which happened across large swaths of the 12 major oil and gas basins in the U.S. That covers roughly 70% of all drilling sites on U.S. land.
As Gautum said:
“This is probably the most comprehensive data set that’s been acquired over the onshore U.S. oil and gas production.”
Methane is a greenhouse gas, and it’s the main component of natural gas. It’s not as deadly to the environment as carbon dioxide is, because it doesn’t stay around in the atmosphere as long.
However, while it does persist there, it’s significantly more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of how it traps heat. This is why scientists and environmentalists are so focused on reducing methane gas emissions.
The oil and gas sector is a major contributor to methane gas emissions. While they are drilling, methane gas can escape from distribution stations, pipelines and drilling pads. Some companies even burn it off, treating it as waste from the production of oil.
According to Gautam, the amount of methane emissions wasn’t the same across all regions. Those that had the highest amount were the Permian Basin, which is located in New Mexico and Texas; and the Appalachian Basin, which is located in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Other regions had higher rates of methane loss, though, he said. The monitoring done by the EDF found that Utah’s Uinta Basin lost as much as 7% of its methane.
During the COP28 climate talks that the United Nations hosted in Dubai last December, 50 companies that ultimately represent 40% of all the oil and gas production across the globe had agreed to limit the loss of methane to only 0.2%.
Data the EDF collected, though, shows that the U.S.-based part of the industry is far off from that target.
As Gautam explained:
“These levels of emissions are very high. To really set a good example, I think, the U.S. has to lead the effort of reducing these emissions.”
