New Reprint: Comprehensive Aerial Surveys Find a Reduction in Permian Basin Methane Intensity from 2020-2023

Published: January 8, 2025 | SSRN

Authors: Sherwin, Evan and Kruguer, Jordan and Wetherley, Erin B. and Yakovlev, Petr V. and Brandt, Adam and Deiker, Steven and Berman, Elena S.F. and Biraud, Sébastien, Comprehensive Aerial Surveys Find a Reduction in Permian Basin Methane Intensity from 2020-2023. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5087216 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5087216

Abstract: Tracking progress toward international methane reduction goals in the oil and gas sector will require repeated benchmarking measurement campaigns. This work introduces the most comprehensive source-resolved multi-year methane dataset ever published to track the time evolution and source composition of methane emissions from the Permian Basin, a major global hydrocarbon-producing region. We leverage four consecutive years of anonymized aerial survey data from Insight M, measuring between 47% and 89% of oil and natural gas production and associated midstream infrastructure from 2020-2023. In total, we completed 2.2 million measurements at wells and 1.8 million measured kilometers of pipeline. In each year, the survey detected between 3,493 to 11,731 emission events from 1,638-5,792 unique, anonymized sources. Within a large area surveyed in all four years, these aerially detected emissions account for 3.9% [95% confidence interval: 3.5%, 4.4%] of total methane production in 2020, falling to a relatively steady 2.4% [2.2%, 2.5%]-2.7% [2.5%, 2.8%] from 2021-2023. Well sites are typically the largest share, at 31%-53% of total emissions, followed by pipelines at 19-30% of total emissions (predominantly from gathering pipelines). Emissions above 100 kg/hr constitute 84%-89% of the detected total, with emissions above 1,000 kg/hr contributing 24%-37% of the total. This work highlights the value of repeated, spatially comprehensive, source-resolved aerial methane sensing surveys to characterize time trends in methane emissions across key producing regions, tracking progress toward a low-methane future.