The Permian basin, the source of 50% of U.S. oil and one-fifth of U.S. natural gas production, experienced a reduction in its intensity of oil and gas production methane by more than 50% between 2022-2024 through improved operations, enhanced equipment and the deployment of AI and other new technologies that led to a drop in all plume rates observed (large and small), reports a new S&P Global Commodity Insights analysis.
The latest data for 2024 reveal the upstream oil and gas activities in the country's methane emissions intensity at 0.44% per barrel of oil equivalent, 29% lower compared to the previous year.
Total absolute 2024 methane emissions decreased by 21.3 billion cubic feet (bcf) or 22% from the preceding year. As methane is a potent greenhouse gas, the decrease of 21.3 bcf translated into the prevention of 11.1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions utilizing the 100-year equivalency factor of 28*.
Absolute emissions since the end of 2022 decreased by 55.2 bcf or 28.8 MMT of carbon dioxide emissions prevented.
To put the numbers into perspective, the 28.8 MMt CO2e reduction in absolute methane emissions over two years was:
About the same as the emissions of the country of Lithuania
15% higher than the total amount of emissions avoided by all electric vehicles sold in the United States and European Union
50% higher than the UK electricity sector's total emissions reductions
The same as 2.2 billion garbage bags recycled instead of landfilled
Beyond the greenhouse gas from California's heating and cooling of all its homes
Findings of the most current analysis for Permian upstream methane, developed in association with leading methane management firm Insight M, are based on high frequency observation data that encompass more than 500 high-resolution overhead sweeps over 90% of the basin's production to provide the best, basin-wide estimate of methane emissions.
"Access to quality methane data is valuable to provide valuable context to benchmark and allow companies to differentiate themselves and compete earnestly on carbon," said Kevin Birn, Head of the Center for Emissions Excellence, S&P Global Commodity Insights. "Although the quality of the data remains heterogeneous globally, improvements in access to quality observation data in basins like the Permian are leading the charge and allow us to more authoritatively quantify the effectiveness of efforts to reduce emissions."
The overflight data to which S&P Global Commodity Insights has access reported declines in all quantifiable plume rates, from significant (1000+kg/hour) to insignificant (10kg/hour) emissions.
Further curbs on emissions occurred while gas in the region was still relatively cheap commercially, with the average annual sale price for spot market producers only $0.02 in 2024 as a result of oversupply and takeaway capacity shortage. Consequently, the foregone economic value (i.e. had the gas been captured and sold) from fugitive emissions accounted for only 0.002% of total 2024 hydrocarbon revenues, the report concludes.
The report credits the consistent width and depth of emission reductions to continuous innovations in technology and increasing deployment of new technologies-everything from AI-driven analysis of operating data to in-the-field sensors, airplane and satellite overflights-that allow detecting leaks sooner and more accurately.
"Methane emissions management is becoming normalised as part of operations in the field increasingly. It's becoming an accepted and normal component of the field workers' job," said Raoul LeBlanc, Vice President, Global Upstream, S&P Global Commodity Insights. "At the same time, oilfield service manufacturers are now producing equipment that includes emissions reduction as a fundamental feature, and operators are increasingly using AI and machine learning to implement not just 'find and fix' but 'predict and prevent' emissions."