An analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights reveals that methane intensity of oil and gas production in Permian Basin declined by more than 50 percent during 2022-24. The firm said, “Improved operations, better equipment and the utilization of AI and other advanced technologies led to reductions across all observable plume rates.”
The data for 2024 show the methane emissions intensity of upstream oil and gas operations in the region to be 0.44 percent per barrel of oil equivalent – a reduction of 29 percent from the previous year. Absolute annual 2024 methane emissions decreased by 21.3 billion cubic feet – a decline of 22 percent from the previous year.
Kevin Burn, head of S&P Global’s Center for Emissions Excellence, said July 24, “Whereas data quality still varies globally, improvements in access to reliable observation data in places like the Permian are leading the way and allow us to more credibly measure the impact of emissions mitigation efforts.” Raoul LeBlanc, vice president of global upstream for S&P Global, added, “Methane emissions management is being increasingly normalized as part of field operations. It’s becoming a standard and accepted part of the field staff’s responsibilities… Oilfield service manufacturers are now producing equipment that includes emissions reduction as an important feature, and operators are increasingly utilizing AI and machine learning to not only ‘find and fix’ but ‘predict and prevent’ emissions.”