TY - JOUR KW - Permian, Methane, Seasonality, TROPOMI AU - Daniel J Varon AU - Daniel J Jacob AU - Lucas A Estrada AU - Nicholas Balasus AU - James D East AU - Drew C Pendergrass AU - Zichong Chen AU - Melissa P Sulprizio AU - Mark Omara AU - Ritesh Gautam AU - Zachary R Barkley AU - Felipe J. Cardoso Saldaña AU - Emily K Reidy AU - Harshil Kamdar AU - Evan D Sherwin AU - Sebastien C Biraud AU - Dylan Jervis AU - Sudhanshu Pandey AU - John R Worden AU - Kevin W Bowman AU - Joannes D Maasakkers AU - Robert L Kleinberg AB -

We quantify weekly methane emissions and trends from oil and gas production in the US Permian Basin for 2019–2023, and in nearby basins for 2022–2023, by analytical inversion of Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) satellite observations with the Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) at 25 km resolution. Permian oil and gas emissions averaged 4.0 ± 1.1 Tg a–1 over 2019–2023, with large seasonal variation but little interannual variability. Methane intensity fell from 5.2 to 3.2% as production surged. Intensity in the New Mexico Permian fell from 4.5 to 2.1%, approaching the state’s 2026 target of <2%. Emissions were on average 50 ± 10% higher in winter than summer, which we corroborate with Permian Basin Tower Network measurements, Insight M aircraft data, and GHGSat satellite observations. This seasonality may be driven in part by higher winter emissions from liquid storage tanks due to decreased separator efficiency in cold conditions. Similar but weaker seasonality along with decreasing emissions and intensities is found in weekly inversions for the Anadarko, Barnett, Eagle Ford, and Haynesville basins in 2022–2023. Our work suggests that better weatherization of oil and gas facilities could significantly reduce methane emissions.

BT - Environmental Science & Technology DA - 22/12/2025 DO - 10.1021/acs.est.5c08745 N2 -

We quantify weekly methane emissions and trends from oil and gas production in the US Permian Basin for 2019–2023, and in nearby basins for 2022–2023, by analytical inversion of Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) satellite observations with the Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) at 25 km resolution. Permian oil and gas emissions averaged 4.0 ± 1.1 Tg a–1 over 2019–2023, with large seasonal variation but little interannual variability. Methane intensity fell from 5.2 to 3.2% as production surged. Intensity in the New Mexico Permian fell from 4.5 to 2.1%, approaching the state’s 2026 target of <2%. Emissions were on average 50 ± 10% higher in winter than summer, which we corroborate with Permian Basin Tower Network measurements, Insight M aircraft data, and GHGSat satellite observations. This seasonality may be driven in part by higher winter emissions from liquid storage tanks due to decreased separator efficiency in cold conditions. Similar but weaker seasonality along with decreasing emissions and intensities is found in weekly inversions for the Anadarko, Barnett, Eagle Ford, and Haynesville basins in 2022–2023. Our work suggests that better weatherization of oil and gas facilities could significantly reduce methane emissions.

PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) PY - 2025 T2 - Environmental Science & Technology TI - Seasonality and Declining Intensity of Methane Emissions from the Permian and Nearby US Oil and Gas Basins UR - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c08745 SN - 0013-936X, 1520-5851 ER -