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Reconciliation of Ground and Airborne Measurements of Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Production
  • +4
  • Jeffrey Nivitanont,
  • Kristen Pozsonyi,
  • Tim Vaughn,
  • Arthur Barbaro dos Santos,
  • Stuart Riddick,
  • Shane Murphy,
  • Daniel Zimmerle
Jeffrey Nivitanont
Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Kristen Pozsonyi
Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming
Tim Vaughn
Energy Institute, Colorado State University
Arthur Barbaro dos Santos
Energy Institute, Colorado State University
Stuart Riddick
Energy Institute, Colorado State University
Shane Murphy
Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming
Daniel Zimmerle
Energy Institute, Colorado State University

Abstract

[This work was presented at AGU Fall Meeting 2023.]
Our emissions model constrained by downwind (Tracer flux/OTM 33a) methane measurements of oil and gas (O&G) production sites in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin reveals a basin flux estimate of 8.3 (95% CI: 5.7, 14.5) tons CH4/hr, which is consistent with the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) inventory and a recent aircraft mass balance study. We find that the average production site in the DJ emits 1.43 kg CH4/hr and 30% of total production emissions come from the highest 5% of emitting sites, those emitting greater than 4.3 kg CH4/hr. Combining state O&G production records with these measurements, we observe a basin averaged production-normalized emission rate of 0.36% (95% CI: +/- 0.09%), an order of magnitude lower than previous findings. Finally, CarbonMapper GAO surveys showed that high-emission events, point sources emitting greater than 10 kg CH4/hr, contribute 16% of the total upstream O&G methane emissions in the DJ basin. Although, operator records matching GAO plumes to known maintenance and pre-production events show that the contribution from fugitive high-emission events is 3.3%.
17 Jul 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
18 Jul 2024Published in ESS Open Archive