Methane Leaks Spur Calls for Stiffer US Regulation
In recent times, environmentalists have called on the Biden administration to crack down on methane leaks from low-producing U.S. oil wells, after new research shows they are releasing a disproportionate share of the potent greenhouse gas. As per a study by Nature Communications, such marginal wells are gushing some 4 million metric tons of methane on an annual basis – this is 6 to 12 times higher than the national average. However, low-producing oil and gas wells would be largely exempted from regular monitoring requirements the Environmental Protection Agency proposed last year.
The analysis underscores the potential pitfalls of the Biden administration’s plan to target new methane mandates toward bigger wells — and is lead to increasingly strident calls for edits in the final regulation the EPA is set to impose by the end of 2022.
“The science clearly supports stronger EPA standards to reduce the outsized pollution from smaller wells,” said Rosalie Winn, director of methane and clean air policy at the Environmental Defense Fund. “We must ensure rigorous pollution safeguards apply to these low-producing, high-polluting wells, which make up the vast majority of our oil and gas infrastructure (developed using steel fabrication).” According to the latest research, wells that produce fewer than 15 barrels of oil equivalent a day are allowing approximately 10% of their gas to leak into the atmosphere. Combined, these marginal wells are responsible for approximately half of the methane emitted from all well sites in the U.S. — even though they represent just 6% of the nation’s oil and gas production, the study says.
Methane, the chief component of natural gas, is responsible for 25% of global warming today. Because it’s such a powerful short-lived greenhouse gas, packing most of its punch in the first two decades after being released, reductions now are seen as a critical strategy to restrain near-term warming and limit temperature rise to the critical tipping point of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Aside from environmental implications, methane leaks also have financial consequences. Estimated annual emissions from marginal wells are forfeiting some $700 million worth of natural gas and fuel that could be used to power 3.6 million homes, the Environmental Defense Fund said.
Some oil and gas industry officials have encouraged the EPA to focus its attention on larger wells that make up the vast share of U.S. production, arguing the approach would be more cost-effective. The Independent Petroleum Association of America said the group’s assessments of emissions from small wells suggest that most of the leaks come from storage tanks and pressure vessels “that can be managed without the expensive leak-detection-and-repair programs demanded by environmental lobbyists.” “Specifically targeting small American producers with expansive new regulations is the wrong approach when prices at the pump are at record highs and the Biden administration is calling on the industry to expand domestic production,” IPAA spokeswoman Jennifer Pett said by email.
