Satellite Analysis Shows Repeat Permian Methane Emitters

(Bloomberg) -- A handful of oil and gas operators that process, store and transport natural gas in the Permian Basin may be responsible for the lion’s share of major emissions events there, according to an analysis of satellite data by BloombergNEF.

Assets operated by West Texas Gas, Enterprise Products Partners LP, Energy Transfer LP and Targa Resources Corp., or their subsidiaries, were likely responsible for the majority of methane releases with estimated emissions rates of 100 kilograms an hour or more — so-called super-emitters — observed in the nine months through February of this year.

Targa will review the data provided by Bloomberg and it will be “acted upon when appropriate,” the company said in a statement. Targa is making “significant progress” on methane reduction efforts and reported a 42% cut in emissions to the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2022, the latest year of complete data. 

Enterprise said it’s reviewing the data and if necessary will take appropriate action. West Texas Gas and Energy Transfer didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

A new law charges large oil and gas companies for excessive methane emissions, beginning at $900 per metric ton this year and increasing to $1,200 a ton next year and $1,500 after that. The EPA is working on rules that would incorporate findings from super-emitter events when calculating the fee. 

The regulations also include some caveats like a provision that allows operators to effectively apply emissions credits from some lower-emitting assets to facilities that exceed limits. The process is known as netting emissions and may allow some operators to avoid paying the fees. 

The sweeping new EPA oil and gas methane standards aim to stem leaks of the potent greenhouse gas and include a super-emitter provision, which allows third parties to monitor and report leaks. The rules are expected to prevent roughly 58 million tons of methane from escaping into the atmosphere between this year and 2038, according to the US government. That’s roughly equivalent to 1.5 billion metric tons carbon dioxide — almost as much as all the CO2 emitted by the power sector in 2021.

The BNEF analysis is one of the first to attribute hundreds of individual methane observations from satellites to individual assets and operators. The study relied on data from the United Nations’ International Methane Emissions Observatory, which analyzes observations from multiple satellite systems and notifies governments and operators in an effort to halt leaks. The observations are released with a 45 to 75 day lag post-detection, although the agency doesn’t publicly attribute emissions to individual assets or operators. 

--With assistance from Kevin Crowley.

(Adds comment from Enterprise Products Partners.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.