Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 1 hr ago
US oil and gas methane emissions stayed nearly flat from 2019 to 2024
Satellite data show US oil and gas methane emissions stayed nearly flat from 2019 to 2024, at about 11 million tons a year.
The study covered the lower 48 states, where oil and gas production rose by 8.5% over those six years.
Because emissions rose less than production, methane released per unit of production fell about 11%.
Most of that decline happened before new federal rules took effect, and researchers found no detectable emissions drop after Congress created a methane fee in 2022.
The fee was due to begin in 2024, but its details remained unsettled, while states had until 2026 to file plans for rules covering existing facilities.
Methane traps far more heat than carbon dioxide over a shorter period, so oil and gas remain a major source of US methane emissions.
The study found emissions rose slightly in 2024, and the federal rules and fee had not fully taken effect during the period examined.
Satellite data show U.S. oil and gas methane emissions stayed nearly flat from 2019 to 2024.
Emissions remained between 10.3 million and 11.5 million tons a year, with a slight increase in 2024.
Oil and gas production grew 8.5% over the six years, while emissions per unit of production fell 11.1%.
Researchers found no detectable decline following the creation of a federal methane fee in 2022.
Much of the federal policy framework had yet to take effect during the study period.
- Who
- Researchers led by Ao Chen of Johns Hopkins University, with Scot Miller and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin and McGill University.
- What
- A study found U.S. oil and gas methane emissions remained nearly flat from 2019 to 2024.
- When
- The study covers 2019 to 2024. It was published on November 6, 2026.
- Where
- The lower 48 states of the United States.
- Why
- Researchers examined methane emissions as oil and gas production grew and federal policies to cut them shifted.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The study period began, with satellite measurements showing oil and gas methane emissions near 11 million tons a year.
Most of the decline in methane emissions per unit of production occurred before any new federal rule took hold.
Congress created the first federal methane fee through the Inflation Reduction Act.
The EPA finalized methane rules for new and existing wells, and emissions rose by about 230,000 tons from 2023.
The study period ended with oil and gas methane emissions still near 11 million tons a year.
- Study period
- 2019–2024
- Annual emissions range
- 10.3 million–11.5 million tons
- Production growth
- 8.5%
- Emissions per unit of production
- Fell 11.1%
- Federal methane fee
- Created in 2022
- Leak-fix funding
- $1.36 billion
What people are saying
The good news is that emissions have not markedly increased, as many scientists feared would happen after an enormous increase in natural gas production in the decades following the hydraulic fracturing boom
The bad news is that oil and gas production is still a large percentage of U.S. methane emissions, and we do not find any evidence that a flurry of federal legislation had an impact on emissions