Why MethaneSAT Is Important For Lowering Emissions From Oil And Gas Fields

Originally published on Forbes.com on August 23, 2024

Maps of methane leaks will motivate oil and gas cleanup, certify LNG for importing countries, and help the U.S. decide whether to lift the pause on proposed new LNG trains.

MethaneSAT is a satellite¹ designed to measure methane emissions, the second most common greenhouse gas (GHG). It’s set to become fully operational in 2025. Meanwhile, MethaneAIR is an aircraft fitted out with the same detectors as MethaneSAT, and its impressive data shows just what can be done from an airplane, and how important this is for an oil and gas industry that releases a lot of methane emissions.

The satellite and aircraft are projects by EDF (Environmental Defense Fund). Their measurements are reliable, and will be fairly continuous with MethaneSAT, and will provide a wealth of data that will assist oil and gas companies to identify and fix their leaks, provide data for regulators to monitor, and definitive info for countries overseas that are aiming to import clean methane gas or LNG from the U.S.—a burgeoning industry. This will also strengthen the reporting of emissions to states regarding climate policies, and to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), a U.S. federal office that has recently installed new guidelines for methane leakages.

Maps of Methane Hotspots

The bottom-line results from over 30 flights by MethaneAIR from June to October 2023 are stunning¹. First, 12 major oil and gas basins in the U.S. emitted in total of 7.5 million metric tons per year (almost 900 tons per hour). It’s a substantial source of climate pollution since methane causes up to 80 times more warming than CO₂, pound-for-pound. Also, since natural gas is essentially methane, this wasted gas could serve about half of all U.S. homes each year. The wasted gas amounts to a lot of money.

Second, EPA has a large inventory of methane releases provided in part by oil and gas companies. The new aerial methane measurements by EDF reveal that the EPA numbers are underestimated¹ by about a factor of 4. Earlier in 2024, new EPA rules came out that will tighten methane emissions and provide physical solutions as well as incentives via the Inflation Reduction Act.

Third, the aerial methane leakage rate from EDF boils down to 1.6% of gas production across the 12 basins. This is way higher (8 times higher) than the 0.2% target set by 50 companies at the COP28 climate convention in November 2023.

Maps of MethaneAIR data are displayed in Figures 1 and 2. The diffuse background colored purple in Figure 1 is an integration of all methane sources, except the point sources shown by yellow circles. The point sources come from a single source (or well) or a cluster of sources.

Basin comparisons were made¹. For total methane emissions, the Permian came in first, then Appalachian basins (north-east U.S.) and Haynesville basin (East Texas and Louisiana). 

Basins like the Permian, Eagle Ford (East Texas) and Bakken (North Dakota and Montana) have emission rates that are about 2%. Likely reasons are associated gas production where the gas is economically unimportant compared with oil. Such gas is vented while awaiting a gas pipeline, or improperly flared leaving unburnt methane as well as CO2 in the exhaust.

Other basins contain older wells in depleted formations such as in the Uinta basin, where methane leakage can be higher than 7%. One possible reason is leaks that have never been repaired and now it’s a case of diminishing returns.

Point Source Versus Diffuse Emissions 

Point sources of emissions come from a single source (e.g. well or stock tank) or a cluster of sources. MethaneAIR has a detector threshold to identify point sources from isolated plumes that lie above this threshold.

Based on relative sizes of circles in the legend, the largest yellow circle in Figure 2 has an emission rate of roughly 20,000 kg/hr. This converts to 20 metric tons/hr which has to be an enormous volume of gas released every hour because gas is so light. This point source is definitely an outlier, because the source is missing on the next day flyover. EDF will have to explain what’s going on here.

The takeaway is that MethaneSAT will be able to identify super-emitters that can rapidly bias and distort the overall emission from a given oil or gas play. Maps like Figures 1 and 2, when freely available in 2025, should motivate responsible companies to repair their leaks in a timely manner.  The state and fed regulators will be looking at the same methane maps.

Certified Gas

Also called RSG (Responsibly Sourced Gas), certified gas has been evaluated by an independent third party and certified to have been produced and distributed with verified lower methane leaks.Some companies are certifying gas internally. Others, such as independent MiQ, are assessing GHG emissions from the entire LNG supply chain: methane, CO2, and nitrous oxides.  The role that MethaneSAT will be able to play in certifying natural gas is obvious.

The Fed’s Pause On LNG Permits

The Biden administration in January 2024 paused the release of permits for some proposed new LNG trains in the U.S. This has been discussed in detail elsewhere. The dilemma facing government is that LNG exports provide energy security and reduces emissions by displacing coal-fired power plants. On the other hand, LNG causes carbon emissions from methane leaks when LNG is produced and distributed, and from CO₂ when LNG is burned.

Again, the EDF satellite MethaneSAT will be invaluable in measurements of methane leaks that can be used to better evaluate the balance of factors indicated above.

LNG Imports To Europe And Southeast Asia

EDF point out¹ that the European Union as well as Japan and South Korea, who are big importers of LNG from the U.S., are currently assessing methane footprints in the LNG supply chain. They are searching for new emissions standards to qualify the importing of LNG. Here again, MethaneSAT will be a big asset for the booming overseas trading of LNG.

Global Guidelines For Methane

The IEA (International Energy Agency) wants to keep global warming under the 1.5C limit that was recommended in the Paris 2015 agreement. The IEA calls for a 75% reduction in methane emissions from fossil fuels by 2030 – just 5.5 years away. Surveillance by MethaneSAT would help greatly to monitor the oil and gas contribution.

Takeaway

Human behavior connected to methane release is responsible for about 30% of global warming, according to EDF¹. The best way to slow the rate of global warming is to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, from agriculture, and from waste disposal.

Reference

1. Jon Coifman, New Data Show U.S. Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Over Four Times Higher than EPA Estimates, Eight Times Greater than Industry Target, Press Release, July 31, 2024.