Global assessment of oil and gas methane ultra-emitters

Abstract

Methane emissions from oil and gas (O&G) production and transmission represent a considerable contribution to climate change. These emissions comprise sporadic releases of large amounts of methane during maintenance operations or equipment failures not accounted for in current inventory estimates. We collected and analyzed hundreds of very large releases from atmospheric methane images sampled by the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) between 2019 and 2020. Ultra-emitters are primarily detected over the largest O&G basins throughout the world. With a total contribution equivalent to 8 to 12% (~8 million metric tons of methane per year) of the global O&G production methane emissions, mitigation of ultra-emitters is largely achievable at low costs and would lead to robust net benefits in billions of US dollars for the six major O&G-producing countries when considering societal costs of methane.

Ultra smart

Methane emissions from oil and gas production and transmission make a significant contribution to climate change. Lauvaux et al . used observations from the satellite platform TROPOMI to quantify very large releases of atmospheric methane by oil and gas industry ultra-emitters (see the Perspective by Vogel). They calculate that these sources represent as much as 12% of global methane emissions from oil and gas production and transmission and note that mitigation of their emissions can be done at low cost. This would be an effective strategy to economically reduce the contribution of this industry to climate change. —HJS

Abstract

Reducing methane emissions from ultra-emitters is an economical way to mitigate their contribution to climate change.