MethaneSAT, the most advanced methane-detecting satellite, marked a new chapter in climate accountability by entering Earth’s orbit in 2024, owned by an environmental nonprofit.
A year later, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) lost communication with the $88 million satellite, after retrieving significant data over the previous year. Preliminary analysis reveals methane emissions from global oil and gas basins are significantly higher than official reports suggest, and fall short of company targets.
The initial assessment, published on February 2, encompasses 45 oil and gas regions, representing half of the world’s onshore oil and gas production, with data collected from May 2024 to June 2025.
Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at EDF and MethaneSAT project lead, emphasized the data’s importance for shaping regulations and improving methane mitigation strategies. “Dynamic, empirical data is essential to clarify the situation, rewarding those performing well and calling out underperformers,” Hamburg stated, collaborating with Harvard and other partners.
Methane emissions, the second-largest climate change driver after carbon dioxide, were on average 50% higher than official estimates, including the U.S. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The Permian Basin in West Texas and southeast New Mexico reported the highest emissions, releasing 410 metric tons per hour. This data is yet to be peer-reviewed.
Methane release rates varied significantly, from 0.6% of marketed gas in the Appalachian Basin to over 20% in Iraq’s Widyan Basin. Emission rates differed between oil-centric and gas-centric basins, with even the lowest emitters exceeding industry goals.
The Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter, with 56 major companies including ExxonMobil and Shell, aims to reduce collective methane emissions intensity to 0.2% by 2030. “The U.S. oil and gas industry is balancing rising energy demands with emission reduction efforts,” stated an American Petroleum Institute spokesperson. The Trump administration has delayed regulations from the Biden era targeting methane emissions.
“Confirms What We’ve Known”
EDF’s Hamburg highlighted MethaneSAT’s global emissions perspective, unlike localized measurements from aircraft or ground personnel. “Satellites are crucial for comprehensive, high-quality data,” he said, enabling consistent comparisons between oil and gas basins globally.
Rob Jackson from Stanford cautioned that the findings are unconfirmed by peer review but consistent with previous research. “We have long underestimated methane emissions from oil and gas production,” Jackson indicated.
The report shows that 40% of methane emissions in eight U.S. regions originate from areas producing under 7% of gas. “Low-producing wells tend to be inefficient and leakier,” Jackson noted, suggesting incentives to close such wells. Emission intensities were based on gas marketed rather than total produced, potentially excluding flared gas not captured by MethaneSAT.
Jackson also mentioned the report’s lack of emission intensity ranges often seen in peer-reviewed studies. MethaneSAT’s loss of contact limits its ability to monitor changes over time. Hamburg reassured future peer-reviewed papers will include such ranges, and the team continues analyzing pre-loss data from the satellite, which lost power and became unrecoverable.
Qatar, with the largest natural gas field, was not included in the current assessment due to challenges in satellite monitoring in offshore regions, as explained here. MethaneSAT researchers were starting detailed data collection in offshore areas when contact was lost.
Data on methane emissions becomes vital as the European Union and Japan implement regulations on energy imports, potentially imposing fees on LNG with higher methane emissions. Robert Howarth from Cornell questioned if any basins analyzed would qualify as low-methane intensity.
Regulatory Backstop, Persistent Emissions
MethaneSAT’s report attributes state-level regulations with reducing methane intensity. Data released in 2025 showed that New Mexico’s Delaware Basin emitted less methane than Texas, reflecting the impact of its 2021 regulations.
Texas lacks such regulations and opposed methane regulations from the Biden administration, rolled back by Trump. The Permian Basin showed significant disparity, with satellite emissions four times higher than EPA reports. Flaring, although restricted by Texas agencies, contributes to overall emissions. Previous reporting by Inside Climate News and ProPublica revealed companies often obtain exemptions to flare gas.
Charlie Barrett from Oilfield Witness highlighted the ongoing emissions from flares and abandoned wells in New Mexico. Despite regulatory efforts, emissions rise with increasing production. Barrett remarked on the challenge of mitigating emissions while expanding the industry.
Hamburg noted that additional satellites from Japan and the European Union will enhance global methane monitoring. He did not dismiss the possibility of EDF launching another satellite in the future, stating, “We’ll be public when we know what we are doing going forward.”
Original Story at insideclimatenews.org