Undisciplined private operators in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, and “old, leaky equipment” in fossil-producing nations like Algeria that have accelerated production in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are being blamed for a “worrisome” rise in methane emissions in the first quarter of 2022.
New analysis from Kayrros, a Paris-based data analytics firm, has found that methane emissions from fossil fuel production “appear to be going in the wrong direction,” reports the Washington Post.
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Kayrros’ analysis of first quarter satellite data from 2022 arrives six months after 110 countries, led by the United States and the European Union, signed on to the Global Methane Pledge, vowing to cut emissions 30% by 2030. Methane is a super-potent greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the climate-warming power of carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere.
Illustrating what Kayrros co-founder and chief analyst Antoine Halff described to the Post as “an alarm call for the fossil fuel industry,” methane (CH4) emissions in the first quarter of 2022 in the Permian Basin jumped 33% from the last quarter of 2021.
Methane output for the period “also exceeded emissions in the fourth quarter of 2019—before the pandemic hit,” notes the Post.
The report authors said the spike in methane emissions in the Permian is occurring “against the backdrop of a rebound in drilling and well completions in the basin, a trend dominated by small, private operators that may be less disciplined about methane abatement than publicly-traded, larger producers.”
The Permian also saw 70 “super-emitters”—the term used to describe “unusually rapid bursts of methane after a leakage incident”—during the first quarter of 2022, a return to pre-pandemic levels.
“At the current pace, the number of super-emitters will reach 168 this year in the United States, with 59% coming from the Permian Basin,” writes the Post.
Methane emissions are also climbing in the coal fields of Appalachia, rising 20% in 2021.
Looking at other fossil-fuel producing regions of the world, Kayrros listed 47 super-emitter incidents in Turkmenistan since 2022 began, most of them spotted over pipelines transporting natural gas to Iran.
Observing that “many parts of the world have been shaken by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the report authors warn that methane emissions from the Hassi R’Mel gas basin in Algeria “rose significantly” through the winter and spring as the country sought to meet Europe’s sudden thirst for gas with “old, leaky equipment”.
