Satellite-based survey of extreme methane emissions in the Permian basin

Irakulis-Loitxate, Itziar; Guanter, Luis; Liu, Yin-Nian; Varon, Daniel J.; Maasakkers, Joannes D.; Zhang, Yuzhong; Chulakadabba, Apisada; Wofsy, Steven C.; Thorpe, Andrew K.; Duren, Riley M.; Frankenberg, Christian; Lyon, David R.; Hmiel, Benjamin; Cusworth, Daniel H.; Zhang, Yongguang; Segl, Karl; Gorroño, Javier; Sánchez-García, Elena; Sulprizio, Melissa P.; Cao, Kaiqin; Zhu, Haijian; Liang, Jian; Li, Xun; Aben, Ilse; Jacob, Daniel J.

Industrial emissions play a major role in the global methane budget. The Permian basin is thought to be responsible for almost half of the methane emissions from all U.S. oil- and gas-producing regions, but little is known about individual contributors, a prerequisite for mitigation. We use a new class of satellite measurements acquired during several days in 2019 and 2020 to perform the first regional-scale and high-resolution survey of methane sources in the Permian. We find an unexpectedly large number of extreme point sources (37 plumes with emission rates >500 kg hour(−1)), which account for a range between 31 and 53% of the estimated emissions in the sampled area. Our analysis reveals that new facilities are major emitters in the area, often due to inefficient flaring operations (20% of detections). These results put current practices into question and are relevant to guide emission reduction efforts.