Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space

Yuzhong Zhang; Ritesh Gautam; Sudhanshu Pandey; Mark Omara; Joannes D. Maasakkers; Pankaj Sadavarte; David Lyon; Hannah Nesser; Melissa P. Sulprizio; Daniel J. Varon; Ruixiong Zhang; Sander Houweling; Daniel Zavala-Araiza; Ramon A. Alvarez; Alba Lorente; Steven P. Hamburg; Ilse Aben; Daniel J. Jacob

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120

Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space

Yuzhong Zhang^*
, Ritesh Gautam
, Sudhanshu Pandey
, Mark Omara
, Joannes D. Maasakkers
, Pankaj Sadavarte
, David Lyon
, Hannah Nesser
, Melissa P. Sulprizio
, Daniel J. Varon
, Ruixiong Zhang
, Sander Houweling
, Daniel Zavala-Araiza
, Ramon A. Alvarez
, Alba Lorente
, Steven P. Hamburg
, Ilse Aben
, Daniel J. Jacob

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Using new satellite observations and atmospheric inverse modeling, we report methane emissions from the Permian Basin, which is among the world's most prolific oil-producing regions and accounts for >30% of total U.S. oil production. Based on satellite measurements from May 2018 to March 2019, Permian methane emissions from oil and natural gas production are estimated to be 2.7 ± 0.5 Tg a⁻¹, representing the largest methane flux ever reported from a U.S. oil/gas-producing region and are more than two times higher than bottom-up inventory-based estimates. This magnitude of emissions is 3.7% of the gross gas extracted in the Permian, i.e., ~60% higher than the national average leakage rate. The high methane leakage rate is likely contributed by extensive venting and flaring, resulting from insufficient infrastructure to process and transport natural gas. This work demonstrates a high-resolution satellite data-based atmospheric inversion framework, providing a robust top-down analytical tool for quantifying and evaluating subregional methane emissions.

Original language	English
Article number	aaz5120
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	6
Issue number	17
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120
Publication status	Published - 22 Apr 2020

Funding

We thank the team that realized the TROPOMI instrument and its data products, consisting of the partnership between Airbus Defense and Space Netherlands, KNMI, SRON, and TNO, commissioned by NSO and ESA. Sentinel-5 Precursor is part of the EU Copernicus program, and Copernicus Sentinel data 2018-2019 have been used. We acknowledge the provision of publicly available VIIRS night-fire data. We also acknowledge NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network for providing methane measurements at MLO, WKT, and TGC. This work was supported by the Kravis Scientific Research Fund, the Robertson Foundation, GALES project (#15597) by the Dutch Technology Foundation STW, and the TROPOMI national program through NSO. Y.Z. was funded by the Kravis Fellowship through EDF and by Harvard University. P.S. and S.P. are funded through the GALES project (#15597) by the Dutch Technology Foundation STW, which is part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). A.L. acknowledges funding from the TROPOMI national program through NSO. R.G., M.O., D.L., D.Z.-A., R.A.A., and S.P.H. were funded by the Robertson Foundation. D.J.J. was funded by the NASA Carbon Monitoring System.

Funders	Funder number
Kravis Scientific Research Fund
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
SRON
TGC
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Harvard University
Robertson Foundation	15597
Elizabeth Dole Foundation
European Commission
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen
Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut
Airbus Defense and Space

Access to Document

10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120

Persistent URL (handle)

Persistent link

Cite this

Zhang, Y., Gautam, R., Pandey, S., Omara, M., Maasakkers, J. D., Sadavarte, P., Lyon, D., Nesser, H., Sulprizio, M. P., Varon, D. J., Zhang, R., Houweling, S., Zavala-Araiza, D., Alvarez, R. A., Lorente, A., Hamburg, S. P., Aben, I., & Jacob, D. J. (2020). Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space. Science Advances, 6(17), 1-10. Article aaz5120. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120

@article{d5efae30c4904689973368013f1d04c5,

title = "Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space",

abstract = "Using new satellite observations and atmospheric inverse modeling, we report methane emissions from the Permian Basin, which is among the world's most prolific oil-producing regions and accounts for >30\% of total U.S. oil production. Based on satellite measurements from May 2018 to March 2019, Permian methane emissions from oil and natural gas production are estimated to be 2.7 ± 0.5 Tg a−1, representing the largest methane flux ever reported from a U.S. oil/gas-producing region and are more than two times higher than bottom-up inventory-based estimates. This magnitude of emissions is 3.7\% of the gross gas extracted in the Permian, i.e., \textasciitilde{}60\% higher than the national average leakage rate. The high methane leakage rate is likely contributed by extensive venting and flaring, resulting from insufficient infrastructure to process and transport natural gas. This work demonstrates a high-resolution satellite data-based atmospheric inversion framework, providing a robust top-down analytical tool for quantifying and evaluating subregional methane emissions.",

author = "Yuzhong Zhang and Ritesh Gautam and Sudhanshu Pandey and Mark Omara and Maasakkers, \{Joannes D.\} and Pankaj Sadavarte and David Lyon and Hannah Nesser and Sulprizio, \{Melissa P.\} and Varon, \{Daniel J.\} and Ruixiong Zhang and Sander Houweling and Daniel Zavala-Araiza and Alvarez, \{Ramon A.\} and Alba Lorente and Hamburg, \{Steven P.\} and Ilse Aben and Jacob, \{Daniel J.\}",

year = "2020",

month = apr,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

pages = "1--10",

journal = "Science Advances",

issn = "2375-2548",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "17",

}

Zhang, Y, Gautam, R, Pandey, S, Omara, M, Maasakkers, JD, Sadavarte, P, Lyon, D, Nesser, H, Sulprizio, MP, Varon, DJ, Zhang, R, Houweling, S, Zavala-Araiza, D, Alvarez, RA, Lorente, A, Hamburg, SP, Aben, I & Jacob, DJ 2020, 'Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space', Science Advances, vol. 6, no. 17, aaz5120, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120

TY - JOUR

T1 - Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space

AU - Zhang, Yuzhong

AU - Gautam, Ritesh

AU - Pandey, Sudhanshu

AU - Omara, Mark

AU - Maasakkers, Joannes D.

AU - Sadavarte, Pankaj

AU - Lyon, David

AU - Nesser, Hannah

AU - Sulprizio, Melissa P.

AU - Varon, Daniel J.

AU - Zhang, Ruixiong

AU - Houweling, Sander

AU - Zavala-Araiza, Daniel

AU - Alvarez, Ramon A.

AU - Lorente, Alba

AU - Hamburg, Steven P.

AU - Aben, Ilse

AU - Jacob, Daniel J.

PY - 2020/4/22

Y1 - 2020/4/22

N2 - Using new satellite observations and atmospheric inverse modeling, we report methane emissions from the Permian Basin, which is among the world's most prolific oil-producing regions and accounts for >30% of total U.S. oil production. Based on satellite measurements from May 2018 to March 2019, Permian methane emissions from oil and natural gas production are estimated to be 2.7 ± 0.5 Tg a−1, representing the largest methane flux ever reported from a U.S. oil/gas-producing region and are more than two times higher than bottom-up inventory-based estimates. This magnitude of emissions is 3.7% of the gross gas extracted in the Permian, i.e., ~60% higher than the national average leakage rate. The high methane leakage rate is likely contributed by extensive venting and flaring, resulting from insufficient infrastructure to process and transport natural gas. This work demonstrates a high-resolution satellite data-based atmospheric inversion framework, providing a robust top-down analytical tool for quantifying and evaluating subregional methane emissions.

AB - Using new satellite observations and atmospheric inverse modeling, we report methane emissions from the Permian Basin, which is among the world's most prolific oil-producing regions and accounts for >30% of total U.S. oil production. Based on satellite measurements from May 2018 to March 2019, Permian methane emissions from oil and natural gas production are estimated to be 2.7 ± 0.5 Tg a−1, representing the largest methane flux ever reported from a U.S. oil/gas-producing region and are more than two times higher than bottom-up inventory-based estimates. This magnitude of emissions is 3.7% of the gross gas extracted in the Permian, i.e., ~60% higher than the national average leakage rate. The high methane leakage rate is likely contributed by extensive venting and flaring, resulting from insufficient infrastructure to process and transport natural gas. This work demonstrates a high-resolution satellite data-based atmospheric inversion framework, providing a robust top-down analytical tool for quantifying and evaluating subregional methane emissions.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85084676371

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85084676371#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120

DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120

M3 - Article

C2 - 32494644

AN - SCOPUS:85084676371

SN - 2375-2548

VL - 6

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Science Advances

JF - Science Advances

IS - 17

M1 - aaz5120

ER -

Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space

Abstract

Funding

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this