The facilities, which include well pads, pipelines, compressor stations and processing facilities, were observed as "persistently" emitting large volumes of methane over the three years of aerial surveys done by the Environmental Defense Fund and research group Carbon Mapper.
These so-called "superemitters," located in the most productive U.S. oil field, only account for .001% of the Permian Basin's oil and gas infrastructure but emit around 100,000 tonnes of methane per year.This means that repairing those leaks offers companies an immediate opportunity to help achieve U.S. and international methane reduction targets and save around $26 million in escaped natural gas, the report said.
"The magnitude of emissions coming from a handful of methane sources in one of the top oil and gas producing regions illustrates the opportunity to make significant near-term progress toward the stated methane reduction goals of the US, other countries and companies around the world," said Riley Duren, CEO of Carbon Mapper and a researcher at University of Arizona.
The report shows these large emission sources cut across a diverse range of infrastructure and oil and gas operators in the Permian Basin. Methane is the second-biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide. Its high heat-trapping potential and relatively short lifespan in the atmosphere means cutting its emissions can have an outsized impact on the trajectory of the world's climate.targeting methane emissions from existing oil and gas facilities. It is taking public comment until the end of January and will introduce a supplemental proposal this spring outlining measures for routine flaring and smaller-sized wells.
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