Methane emissions in Texas continue to decline in top oil and natural gas producing areas across the state, according to a new analysis released today by Texans for Natural Gas. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the top producing region in Texas and the nation, the Permian Basin.
Key highlights from the analysis found:
• The Permian Basin reached one of its lowest methane intensity levels this decade in 2023, at 0.49 metric tons per barrel of oil equivalent (MT/boe). Since 2011, Permian methane intensity has declined nearly 83%, even as total production increased 482% in the same time frame.
• Flaring intensity in the Permian Basin in 2023 was 65% lower than in 2015 – when flaring reached a decade high. 2023 saw a slight uptick in intensity compared to 2022 levels, due to a unique confluence of factors, including record oil and natural gas production, depressed Waha Hub prices, and takeaway capacity constraints, yet overall accomplishments in emission reductions remained.
• Texas’s flaring intensity in 2023 declined 47% since its peak in 2018. Total production has increased nearly 25% in that same time frame, with 2023 being the second-highest oil and natural gas production year on record in the Lone Star State, behind 2024’s record numbers.
• The United States reached record levels of oil and natural gas production in 2023, increasing nearly 9% since 2022 while maintaining flaring intensity near its lowest levels since 2012 at 2 meters cubed per barrel of oil (m3/bbl).
The Permian’s record levels of production in 2023, combined with the region’s overall reductions in methane and flaring intensity, mark important progress for the industry as the United States hit the second-highest record for oil and gas production that year, with the Permian providing roughly two-thirds of all U.S. natural gas production.
Source: TXOGA (Edited by subcusa.com)
