However you measure it, Permian oil and gas operations have highest emissions ever measured in a U.S. oilfield
By David Lyon
Two fundamentally different methods EDF is using to measure and understand methane emissions in the Permian Basin are producing strikingly similar results. The mutually reinforcing sets of data — one gathered using aircraft, the other by satellite — each show that oil and gas operators in the region are releasing more than 3.5% of the natural gas they extract from the ground into the atmosphere as methane pollution.
That’s roughly twice the average rate found in 11 other major U.S. oil and gas basins. The wasted gas in the Permian is enough to supply 2 million American homes for a year.
The first of these efforts is EDF’s year-long PermianMAP , which tracks emissions from the ground and in the air, and takes the unprecedented step of publishing data online in near-real time to help industry and officials reduce those emissions, while letting the public see the results. The other is the first peer-reviewed scientific study to take direct measurement of Permian emissions, using the European Space Agency’s TROPOMI instrument.
These two studies provide the most comprehensive assessment yet of the region’s methane emissions. Both sets of data show the highest methane emissions ever measured from a major U.S. oil and gas basin. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and the effect of these extreme emissions nearly triples the 20-year climate impact of Permian gas used for purposes such as power generation or household cooking and heating.
Unprecedented earthbound measurement
PermianMAP combines a suite of established, peer-reviewed data collection methods with state-of-the-art technologies to pinpoint, measure and report oil and gas methane emissions in the Permian. Data is collected three ways: with aircraft (fixed-wing and helicopters), mobile labs driven to sites throughout the region, and from monitors mounted atop five stationary towers.
However you measure it, Permian oil and gas operations have highest emissions ever measured in a U.S. oilfield Click To Tweet
Measurement sites are spread across a 10,000-square-kilometer study area of the Delaware Basin, a subsection of the broader Permian region that produces roughly 40% of its oil and gas. Sites are selected using a random sampling protocol to avoid selection bias. This ensures data is fully representative of both high- and low-emitting sites throughout an area encompassing much of the basin’s production.
PermianMAP data collection methods offer a dynamic view of emissions, both at specific points in time and over longer durations. Aircraft and mobile lab surveys provide a discrete look at emissions, while other methods — such as the five stationary towers — will measure methane continuously and track emission fluctuations over 12 months. Additionally, the fact that repeat samples will be taken of emission sites over the course of the study means the project will allow...
