Assessment of methane emissions from US onshore oil and gas production using MethaneAIR measurements

Abstract

Mitigation of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector is an effective way to reduce the near-term climate warming and losses of a valuable energy resource. The oil and gas value chain contributes at least 25 % of anthropogenic methane emissions globally and is the second largest methane-emitting sector in the United States. Here, we assess methane emissions in regions accounting for 70 % of US onshore oil and gas production in 2023 using data collected by the MethaneAIR airborne imaging spectrometer. We quantify total methane emissions across all observed regions to be ∼ 9 (7.8–10) Tg yr−1, with ∼ 90 % of emissions estimated from the oil and gas sector (∼ 8 Tg yr−1, equivalent to a methane loss rate of 1.6 % of gross gas production), which is about five times higher than reported by the US EPA. Both oil and gas emissions and gas production-normalized methane loss rates varied considerably by basin. Highly productive basins such as the Permian, Appalachian, and Haynesville-Bossier had the highest methane emissions (95–314 t h−1), whereas lower producing basins possibly associated with older infrastructure such as the Uinta and Piceance had higher loss rates (> 7 %). We found good agreement across total emissions quantified by MethaneAIR and other empirical and remote sensing estimates at national/basin/target-level scales. This work underscores the increasing value of remote sensing data for quantifying methane emissions, characterizing intensity of methane losses across the oil and gas sector, and mapping inter-basin emissions variability, which are all critical for tracking methane mitigation targets set by industry and governments.