Annual methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas (AOG) wells in Canada and the US have been greatly underestimated – by as much as 150% in Canada, and by 20% in the US. Emissions from AOG wells are currently the 10th and 11th largest sources of anthropogenic methane emissions in the US and Canada, respectively. Uncapped, idle oil wells could be leaking millions of kilograms of methane each year into the atmosphere and surface water. For example, of 37 wells on private property in the Permian Basin of Texas (the largest oil production region on Earth), seven had methane emissions of as much as 132 grams per hour. The average rate was 6.2 grams per hour. A similar issue was found in inactive wells tested in Colorado, Wyoming, Ohio and Utah. Spread across the estimated 3.1 million abandoned wells, the leaking methane is equivalent to burning more than 16 million barrels of oil.
www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/methane-emissions-abandoned-oil-and-gas-wells-underestimated-327816
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210428132941.htm
Story Source: Materials provided by University of Cincinnati. Original written by Michael Miller.