Description
Recent studies indicate emission factors used to generate bottom-up
methane inventories may have considerable regional variability. The
US's Environmental Protection Agency's emission factors for
plugged and unplugged abandoned oil and gas wells are largely based on
measurement of historic wells and estimated at 0.4 g and
31 g CH4 well−1 h−1, respectively. To
investigate if these are representative of wells more recently abandoned,
methane emissions were measured from 128 plugged and 206 unplugged
abandoned wells in Colorado, finding the first super-emitting abandoned
well (76 kg CH4 well−1 h−1) and average
emissions of 0 and 586 g CH4 well−1 h−1,
respectively. Combining these with other states' measurements, we
update the US emission factors to 1 and 198 g
CH4 well−1 h−1, respectively. Correspondingly, annual
methane emissions from the 3.4 million abandoned wells in the US are
estimated at between 2.6 Tg, following current methodology, and 1.1 Tg,
where emissions are disaggregated for well-type. In conclusion, this study
identifies a new abandoned well-type, recently-producing orphaned, that
contributes 74 % to the total abandoned wells methane emissions. Including
this new well-type in the bottom-up inventory suggests abandoned well
emissions equate to between 22 and 49 % of total emissions from US active
oil and gas production operations.
The dataset was collected during the field
measurements of abandoned wells in Colorado. Each site was screened using
an ABB Micro-portable Greenhouse Gas
Analyzer. Screening included
the wellhead, wellbore, and any still-attached flow lines that may leak
some distance away from the well head.
When a methane enhancement was
detected, emission was quantified using either a chamber method or a
downwind dispersion method.
# Methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Colorado Dataset
[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sf7m0cgc7](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sf7m0cgc7) ## Description of the data and file structure This data is for methane emissions from 128 plugged and 206 unplugged wells in Colorado showing average emissions of between 0 and 586 g CH4 well-1 h-1 ### Files and variables #### File: Abandoned\_wells\_data.csv **Description:** ##### Variables * ID: Well identification number * Type: Unplugged or plugged * Emission(g/h): Measured methane emission in g/h ## Code/software The data is available in .csv format.
methane inventories may have considerable regional variability. The
US's Environmental Protection Agency's emission factors for
plugged and unplugged abandoned oil and gas wells are largely based on
measurement of historic wells and estimated at 0.4 g and
31 g CH4 well−1 h−1, respectively. To
investigate if these are representative of wells more recently abandoned,
methane emissions were measured from 128 plugged and 206 unplugged
abandoned wells in Colorado, finding the first super-emitting abandoned
well (76 kg CH4 well−1 h−1) and average
emissions of 0 and 586 g CH4 well−1 h−1,
respectively. Combining these with other states' measurements, we
update the US emission factors to 1 and 198 g
CH4 well−1 h−1, respectively. Correspondingly, annual
methane emissions from the 3.4 million abandoned wells in the US are
estimated at between 2.6 Tg, following current methodology, and 1.1 Tg,
where emissions are disaggregated for well-type. In conclusion, this study
identifies a new abandoned well-type, recently-producing orphaned, that
contributes 74 % to the total abandoned wells methane emissions. Including
this new well-type in the bottom-up inventory suggests abandoned well
emissions equate to between 22 and 49 % of total emissions from US active
oil and gas production operations.
The dataset was collected during the field
measurements of abandoned wells in Colorado. Each site was screened using
an ABB Micro-portable Greenhouse Gas
Analyzer. Screening included
the wellhead, wellbore, and any still-attached flow lines that may leak
some distance away from the well head.
When a methane enhancement was
detected, emission was quantified using either a chamber method or a
downwind dispersion method.
# Methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Colorado Dataset
[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sf7m0cgc7](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sf7m0cgc7) ## Description of the data and file structure This data is for methane emissions from 128 plugged and 206 unplugged wells in Colorado showing average emissions of between 0 and 586 g CH4 well-1 h-1 ### Files and variables #### File: Abandoned\_wells\_data.csv **Description:** ##### Variables * ID: Well identification number * Type: Unplugged or plugged * Emission(g/h): Measured methane emission in g/h ## Code/software The data is available in .csv format.
| Data de disponibilização | 8 fev. 2025 |
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