MethaneSAT data reveals higher emissions levels
Preliminary data from MethaneSAT, a satellite designed to monitor methane emissions, has revealed significantly higher emissions from key oil and gas production basins than previously reported.
The images, which cover regions including the Permian, Uinta, and Appalachian basins in the US, as well as basins in Turkmenistan and Venezuela, highlight emissions from both large and smaller, dispersed sources often missed by other satellites.
The data shows that methane emissions in the Permian Basin are at least nine times higher than the industry's 2030 target for methane loss reduction. In the Uinta Basin, where infrastructure is older and more prone to leaks, methane emissions were observed to be approximately 9%, a rate ten times higher than that in the Appalachian Basin.
These findings are in contrast to existing methane inventories, with emissions in the Permian Basin observed to be three to five times greater than estimates by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their 2020 inventory. Similarly, emissions in the South Caspian Basin were found to be more than 10 times higher than reported in the 2022 EDGAR emissions database.
Total emissions in the observed regions range from 50 tonnes per hour in the Uinta Basin to 420 tonnes per hour in the South Caspian, surpassing estimates in both US and global databases. This highlights the need for more accurate methane tracking in the oil and gas sector.
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash
