What Did MethaneAIR Find? Methane 5x Above EPA in 12 Basins
MethaneAIR flights over 12 US basins in 2023 found about 7.9 million tonnes a year of oil and gas methane, about 5x EPA's estimate. Basin-by-basin results.
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TOPIC
Methane Measurement and Carbon Markets
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and oil and gas is one of its major sources. How it is measured matters: estimates built from emission factors, site measurements and satellite observations can disagree, and each reporting framework treats that gap differently.
These posts cover measurement-informed inventories and OGMP 2.0, what satellites such as TROPOMI can and cannot see, how methane intensity is calculated, how global warming potentials convert methane to CO2e, and how carbon credits and markets rely on those numbers.
The posts compare the main frameworks side by side, explain the vocabulary each one uses, and point out where a headline number depends on a methodology choice that is easy to miss. Where a calculation is involved, such as converting methane to CO2e, the free tools do the arithmetic with the factor and its source shown.
29 posts in this topic
Class VI UIC Well Permitting: Every Submittal and Stage
What a Class VI UIC well permit application must contain under 40 CFR 146, how EPA reviews it stage by stage, and what changes in a primacy state.
Subpart W Guidance: EPA GHG Reporting for Oil and Gas
Subpart W is EPA's greenhouse gas reporting rule for oil and gas: its ten segments, the two 25,000 metric ton tests, what to report, and the rule's 2026 status.
Operator-Reported Methane vs Satellite Data: Why They Differ
Satellites usually find more oil and gas methane than reported inventories. The reasons, from abnormal events to detection limits, and how to reconcile the two.
What Is Emissions Intelligence for Oil and Gas Methane?
Emissions intelligence joins reported, modelled and measured methane to the assets behind it: why the three disagree and how OGMP 2.0 reconciles them.
Oil and Gas Production Data: How to Find It in Eight States
Look up oil and gas production data by well, API number, operator and county in eight states, and see how far back each state's production history goes.
Carbon Markets: Compliance and Voluntary, and Why Prices Differ
Compliance carbon markets price a legal obligation and voluntary ones a claim. RGGI allowances cleared at $37.65 in September 2026, up 69 percent in a year.
Leak Detection in Oil and Gas: What Each Method Finds
Controlled-release testing shows what methane leak detection actually finds. Why the surveyor matters as much as the camera, and what a survey cannot see.
Default Emission Factors: When Subpart W Still Allows Them
Default emission factors are Subpart W's Calculation Method 4 for natural gas pneumatic devices, and cannot be used for devices measured under Methods 1 to 3.
Colorado Regulation 7: What It Requires and What It Costs
Colorado Regulation 7 no longer has a Part D. What Part B requires, which sections are statewide, and how the intensity verification factor is set.
Inflation Reduction Act: What Is Left for Methane in 2026
The IRA methane charge was not repealed. Its rule was disapproved and the charge moved to 2034. What still binds oil and gas operators, provision by provision.
Greenhouse Gases and CO2e: One Tonne, Three Answers
Which greenhouse gases oil and gas emits, and why the same tonne of methane becomes three different CO2e numbers depending on which published basis you use.
Oil and Gas Methane Carbon Credits: What Sets the Volume
Oil and gas carbon credits come from plugging wells and repairing leaks. The baseline leak rate, the crediting period and the GWP basis set the volume.
New Mexico Ozone Season O&G Rules: NMED Requirements
NMED 20.2.82 NMAC requires heightened LDAR surveys and equipment controls for New Mexico oil and gas facilities during the May through October ozone season.
Title V and PSD Thresholds: Which Air Quality Permit Applies
Which air permit applies turns on potential to emit: Title V at 100 tpy, PSD at 100 or 250 tpy, lower in nonattainment areas, and the oil and gas site rules.
Oil and Gas Flaring: What Flares Actually Destroy
AP-42 assumes 98% destruction and publishes no methane factor. What Subpart W requires instead, plus measured values from 99.8% down to 91.1%.
What Is Stack Testing? Methods, Rules, and Its Limits
Stack testing measures pollutant concentration and flow at one outlet under representative conditions. What the methods cover and what a result cannot show.
AP-42 Emission Factors: Gas Engines, Turbines, Boilers, Flares
AP-42 NOx, CO, VOC and methane factors for natural gas engines, turbines, boilers and flares, with table numbers, A to E ratings, and what each factor assumes.
OGMP 2.0 Level 4 and Level 5 Reporting Explained
OGMP 2.0 Level 4 requires source-level measurement. Level 5 adds site-level reconciliation. What each level demands of your emissions data, and why.
Storage Tank Emissions Calculation: Formulas and Failures
Standing, working, and flashing losses are the standard tank emissions calculation. What the formulas cover, where they stop, and what failure adds.
EPA's April 2026 OOOOb/OOOOc Amendment: What Changed
EPA revised OOOOb/OOOOc temporary flaring and NHV monitoring, effective June 8, 2026. Most flares and combustion devices are now exempt from NHV monitoring.
Abandoned Gas Wells: What They Are and Where to Find Them
Abandoned and orphaned gas wells are a methane and cleanup-liability concern. Learn what they are and how Atlas maps them, with New Mexico as the live example.
Glycol Pumps: 90% of Modeled Emissions at Six TEG Dehydrators
A mechanistic TEG dehydrator model attributed 90.25% of dehydrator emissions at six units with gas-assisted pumps and uncontrolled flash tanks to the pumps.
Southern Permian Oil Jumped 14% in 2024: Emissions Impact
Southern Permian oil (RRC District 7C) jumped 14% to 186M barrels in 2024. Compliance and ops implications for associated gas and methane intensity.
Colorado Regulation 7: GHG Intensity Verification Factor
How Colorado Reg 7 Section VIII scales ONGAEIR methane: CDPHE's factor rose from 1.164 (2025) to 2.2-2.7 by region (2026); targets run through 2030.
How to Get a Colorado Operator-Specific Verification Factor
How Colorado operators replace the state default verification factor with an operator-specific one under Reg 7 Part B Section VIII, and when it pays off.
Methane Intensity Metrics: Why Methodology Matters
Different methane intensity formulas produce different results for the same facility. CATF's 2026 report shows why denominator choice shapes EU compliance.
Why Satellites Show About 2x More Methane Than Inventories
TROPOMI satellite data shows US oil and gas methane roughly double what facility inventories report. What drives the gap and why it matters.
GHGRP Subpart W Deadline Moved to March 10, 2027
EPA moved the RY2025 GHGRP filing deadline to March 10, 2027, while a separate proposal to suspend Subpart W reporting through 2034 remains pending.