Roulet's Law Perturbation (methane 1/3 greenhouse gas) X Uncertainty (72% smaller leaks) = Chaos (climate change) x Relatively (Permian Basin straddling Texas and New Mexico, the most productive oil and gas region in the world)

Harmful gas billowing from Texas and New Mexico comes mostly from smaller leaks, researchers say

7 hrs ago

The blob on the satellite image is a rainbow of colors. An analyst digitally sharpens it and there, highlighted in red, is the source: a concrete oil pad spewing methane.

In the 75,000-square-mile (194-square-kilometer) Permian Basin straddling Texas and New Mexico, the most productive oil and gas region in the world, huge amounts of the powerful greenhouse gas escape from wells, compressor stations and other equipment.

Most efforts to reduce emissions have focused on so-called “super emitters” like the one in the satellite image, which are relatively easy to find with improving satellite imaging and other aerial sensing.

Now researchers say much smaller sources are collectively responsible for about 72% of methane emissions from oil and gas fields throughout the contiguous U.S. These have often gone undetected.

“It’s really (important to) approach the problem from both ends because the high-emitting super emitters are important, but so are the smaller ones,” said James Williams, a post-doctoral science fellow at the Environmental Defense Fund and lead author on a new study that took a comprehensive look at emissions within the nation’s oil and gas basins.

Addressing methane is important because it accounts for about one third of all greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

https://apnews.com/article/methane-gas-texas-permian-basin-satellite-climate-81b9cfea311275806c6fbf8621f821c2