Register here: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcucO6srDgoGN1GFfS3HDyt57ah23r003CJ

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Abstract

Methane emissions from oil and gas (O&G) production and transmission represent a significant contribution to climate change. These emissions comprise sporadic releases of large amounts of methane during maintenance operations or equipment failures not accounted for in current inventory estimates. We collected and analyzed hundreds of very large releases from atmospheric methane images sampled by the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) over 2019 and 2020. Ultra-emitters are primarily detected over the largest O&G basins of the world. With a total contribution equivalent to 8-12% (~8 MtCH4.yr-1) of the global O&G production methane emissions, mitigation of ultra-emitters is largely achievable at low costs and would lead to robust net benefits in billions of US dollars for the six major producing countries when considering societal costs of methane. We finally present the capabilities of current high-resolution imagers (Sentinel-2, PRISMA, Landsat-8) to detect more precisely the origins of large emitters, a key element to design and to implement successful mitigation strategies across O&G activities.