Increased natural gas consumption has generated a truly incredible story for the environment as U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have fallen to their lowest levels since 1992. But the air quality improvements go even further, as a new Energy In Depth analysis shows: The U.S. oil and gas industry is also making incredible progress in reducing methane emissions as production surges in America’s top shale basins.
Methane emissions from onshore U.S. oil and natural gas production fell 24 percent, while oil and natural gas production rose 65 percent and 19 percent, respectively, from 2011 to 2017, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Information Administration.
As EID’s latest infographic shows, even more incredible is the rate at which methane emissions intensity – or emissions per unit of production – has declined in the top U.S. oil and natural gas basins.
Read the full analysis on EIDClimate.org.
Infographics: Permian Basin | Appalachian Basin
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