Methane emissions from US oil and gas production sites were more than four times higher than what the US Environmental Protection Agency estimated and far from industry targets, according to a new study based on overflight data from the Environmental Defense Fund.

The findings were consistent with previous studies and suggested potential trouble ahead for US LNG exporters unless methane releases can be curtailed, the group said July 31. The EU recently adopted new regulations that will restrict imports of natural gas produced above a certain methane intensity threshold and impose other requirements that will affect US producers and exporters.

The oil and gas industry welcomes more data that can help operators track and reduce methane emissions, said Chris Treanor, the executive director of the Partnership to Address Global Emissions (PAGE). The group was formed in 2022 by natural gas companies arguing that US exports are needed to bring energy to underserved regions and to reduce overseas reliance on coal and other fossil fuels that are more damaging to the world's climate than natural gas.

"Measurement of emissions will be important for companies to ensure they'll be able to comply with the new EU methane standards," Treanor said in an interview. Treanor added there was no question that US companies will be able to continue to export gas to the continent.

Under the new EU rules, Europe's fossil fuel industry must begin to measure, monitor, report and verify methane emissions in 2025. These rules, which also prohibit most flaring of natural gas and limit methane intensity, will be gradually extended to importers of natural gas.

Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas and is more than 80 times more potent han carbon dioxide in the short term as a greenhouse gas. Scientists have said at least one-third of the warming Earth experiences today is caused by methane releases from industry, agriculture and other sources.

7.5 million tons of methane wasted

The MethaneAIR program of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) conducted more than 30 jet flights between June and October 2023 to monitor over 70% of US onshore oil and gas sites. The data was compared with EPA's 2020 methane inventory, according to an EDF news release.

The overflight program uses a similar technology on its MethaneSAT satellite that it launched in March to detect methane leaks from space.

The total methane emissions rate detected across 12 major production areas was 1.6%, the EDF reported. That is eight times higher than the 0.2% emissions intensity target that 50 nations adopted in 2023 at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, the group said. The findings indicate leaks of 7.5 million metric tons of methane annually, or what half of US homes consume per year.

The Permian Basin had the highest absolute emissions, followed by the Appalachian Basin, the data showed.

"These new findings represent a major advance over current methods, but also just a preview of the continuous high-resolution measurements that are coming soon from MethaneSAT and other satellites," said Ritesh Gautam, a lead senior scientist on EDF's MethaneSAT mission. "Information used to track methane emissions today is based on extrapolations from very limited measurements. Now we can take robust, reliable measurements directly at an unprecedented scale."

Avoided emissions from coal

PAGE and the Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, another group promoting US natural gas, issued a separate study July 30 estimating that 2022 exports to Europe would have avoided 112 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel sources under normal market conditions. The EU is the world's largest importer of natural gas.

PAGE has also predicted there will be demand for gas beyond Europe.

"One of the benefits of LNG long-term contracts is the flexibility of those cargoes so that they can shift from a place like Europe, when there are energy concerns during a war, to Southeast Asia, where there are increased coal emission concerns at a different time," Treanor said. "I do think that LNG will find a way to fit in."

Two other large markets for US LNG — South Korea and Japan — are also considering ways to reduce methane from their supply chains, which could add more pressure on US producers to rein in emissions.

States, industry challenge EPA methane rules

Unable to affect overseas methane regulations, US industry players and politicians worried about restrictions on energy producers have watched the regulatory situation closer to home.

The EPA published a final rule in March to reduce climate-warming methane releases from new and existing oil and natural gas operations, setting the clock for states to implement the new regulations. More than 20 state attorneys general and a number of industry organizations sued the agency to halt the rule, but the mandates for states remain in place for now.

The agency in May also issued a rule strengthening methane reporting requirements that, for the first time, will allow data from airplanes and satellites to detect large emission events. The data will be used to assess when to impose a methane fee on operators under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

The American Petroleum Institute, the industry's leading trade group, has called on Congress to repeal the rule, saying it could undermine the energy and economic support that US energy providers offer the world.