Wyoming’s Abandoned Oil, Natural Gas Wells Said to Account for Under 1% of Methane Emissions
Abandoned and unplugged oil and gas wells in Wyoming may be responsible for no more than 1% of reported methane emissions from the state’s oil and gas operations, according to research by the University of Wyoming’s (UW) Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute (EORI).
A sample of 10 orphan wells surveyed in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin by UW’s Department of Atmospheric Science accounted for 651 milligrams/hour (mg/h) of methane emissions. For comparison, the researchers noted that the average dairy cow emits 11,900 mg/h of methane.
Rolling Stone To Combat Climate Change, Senate Overturns Trump Admin. Rule on Methane Emissions
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the move is “the first of many… important steps the Senate will take” to reduce greenhouse gases
By UNITED STATES - April 28: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference about the Senate vote, later in the day, on methane regulation outside in Washington on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. The vote will use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn rollbacks of methane regulation enacted by the Trump administration. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
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The Senate voted Wednesday to cancel a Trump administration action that would have blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from controlling methane emitted by the oil and gas industry.
If signed by President Joe Biden, the measure, which passed 52-42 with some Republican support, would reinstate requirements for oil and gas companies to monitor and repair equipment leaking methane, a greenhouse gas dozens of times more potent than carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change.
It also would clear the decks for the Biden administration to fulfill a promise of setting strict controls on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.
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Credit: UC Geology
Uncapped, idle oil wells could be leaking millions of kilograms of methane each year into the atmosphere and surface water, according to a study by the University of Cincinnati.
Amy Townsend-Small, an associate professor of geology and geography in UC s College of Arts and Sciences, studied 37 wells on private property in the Permian Basin of Texas, the largest oil production region on Earth. She found that seven had methane emissions of as much as 132 grams per hour. The average rate was 6.2 grams per hour. Some of them were leaking a lot. Most of them were leaking a little or not at all, which is a pattern that we have seen across the oil and gas supply chain, Townsend-Small said. A few sources are responsible for most of the leaks.