The oil and gas boom is fueling a rise in methane in the US

Despite the government’s ambitious promises of an accelerated green transition, the US still experiences extremely high levels of methane emissions every year. As the Biden administration pumps billions into renewable energy, clean technology and decarbonization projects, methane emissions continue to rise year over year with no sign of abatement anytime soon. Methane traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule than carbon dioxide, making it 80 times more harmful than CO2 for 20 years after it was launched. UNEP suggests that reducing methane emissions by 45 percent by 2030 could help us meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

As of 2021, 158 countries have agreed to the Global Methane Pledge, led by the US and the EU. It states that these countries must reducing methane emissions by 30% from 2020 to 2030. However, recent satellite imagery has shown that methane emissions from nine fossil fuel basins have increased by 7 percent compared to levels in 2020. The US is one of the worst performers when it comes to methane emissions, thanks in large part to massive increases in oil and gas production in the post-pandemic era. It continues to be the third largest emitter of methane in the world, after China and India.

In previous years, the US government has relied heavily on the oil and gas industry to clean up its act. While the US fossil fuel industry emits less methane per unit of energy than in the past, the massive increasing oil and gas production means the US is producing more methane than before. Oil and natural gas facilities are now the country’s largest industrial source of methane.

In recent years, the Biden administration has put more pressure on oil companies to clean up operations by identifying and plugging leaks, improving maintenance activities and ending gas flaring practices. This was supported by millions in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other federal schemes. Unlike carbon emissions, which are produced from burning fossil fuels, methane is released during gas production and transportation. The US continues to face a massive methane problem, with thousands of abandoned wells that have yet to be plugged and leaks along transmission lines.

One of the biggest problems is the government’s failure to accurately measure the extent of the US methane problem. Stanford-led research suggests methane emissions from much of the US’s oil and gas facilities are three times higher, on average, than official government estimates say. Oil and gas operations across the country emit more than 6 million tons of methane per year. The high levels of methane emissions come mainly from international emissions and unintentional leaks. It costs oil and gas producers about $1 billion a year in lost business value and about $10 billion when the damage to the economy and human well-being is considered, according to the researchers.

The Stanford report analyzes approximately one million aerial measurements of U.S. wells, pipelines, storage and transportation facilities in six of the country’s most productive regions, including the Permian and Forth Worth in Texas and New Mexico; California’s San Joaquin Basin; Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin; the Pennsylvanian section of the Appalachian Basin; and the Uinta Basin in Utah. These regions account for 52% of US onshore oil production and 29% of gas production. The results show methane levels are likely three times higher than current government predictions.

The study’s lead author, Adam Brandt, explained: “Costs aside, the main message here is that some regions are emitting at rates well above what the government itself uses to estimate methane losses.” Brandt added“We hope this will spur government methane inventories to better incorporate remote sensing data at the heart of these estimates.”

The US government is works quickly to reduce methane levels in the following years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aims to implement a the legal tax for methane emissions that exceed a certain performance standard. EPA is also finalizing several new regulatory provisions, which include extensive leak detection and remediation and more consistent use of the latest mitigation technology. In addition, the Bureau of Land Management launched its methane regimewhich introduced royalty payments for methane waste on federal land. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration also introduces new rules to reduce methane losses from pipelines.

In June of this year, the US Department of Energy (DoE) and EPA announced $850 million in funding for projects that will help monitor, measure, quantify and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as part of the Biden administration’s Invest in America agenda. It follows several federal initiatives aimed at reducing methane levels with agencies nearly 100 shares in 2023 alone.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan, he stated“Today, we rely on strong standards and historic progress to reduce methane pollution and protect communities across the country.” Regan added, “These investments in President Biden’s Invest in America agenda will lead to the deployment of available and advanced technologies to better understand where methane emissions are coming from. This will help us more effectively reduce harmful pollution, tackle the climate crisis and create good-paying jobs.”

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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