Study Measures Methane Emissions Released from Natural Gas Production

AUSTIN, Texas — A research team led by The University of Texas at Austin, and including engineering and environmental testing firms URS and Aerodyne Research, is conducting a major field study to measure methane emissions from natural gas production, about which little empirical data exist. With a goal of obtaining scientifically rigorous, representative data from multiple producing basins, the study brings together Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the university and nine of the nation's leading natural gas producers: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, BG Group plc, Chevron, Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. Pioneer Natural Resources Company, Shell, Southwestern Energy, Talisman Energy, USA, and XTO Energy, an ExxonMobil subsidiary. The study, set for completion in January 2013, seeks to estimate the methane emission rates from participating companies' natural gas production, including hydraulically fractured wells, by conducting direct measurement techniques at a sample of natural gas production sites. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas that can be released into the atmosphere during natural gas production, processing and transportation. A greater understanding of the amount of methane emitted into the atmosphere can better inform sound policies and management of emissions from well sites. "This study is unparalleled in its scope and approach," said David Allen, the principal investigator of the study and director of the Cockrell School of Engineering 's Center for Energy and Environmental Resources.