There were many alarming facts in the recent study “High rates of hydrogen sulfide emissions measured from marginal oil wells near Austin and San Antonio, Texas,” published in Environmental Research Communications. However, all of the problems can be linked back to a fact stated in the study.
“We did not see any gas gathering pipelines at these sites, only oil pipelines.”
The oil and gas industry makes a lot of excuses for its behavior but the fact is that they will never do the right thing unless forced to do it. And that never happens in Texas, so as this study shows once again, they choose to poison the people of Texas and the planet to try to make just a little bit more money.
This study highlights the core issue of the problem with methane emissions associated with oil production in Texas (and the other shale oil plays in America). Producing shale oil using hydraulic fracturing creates wells that produce light oil but also a lot of gas (known as “associated gas” which is mostly methane but marketed as “natural gas”). However, in many cases the gas doesn’t have enough economic value to justify the producers investing in the equipment to capture it so instead it is viewed as a waste product and dumped into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, this waste product is mostly methane and a collection of other gasses that are harmful to human health. The methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas, is harmful to planetary health. The reason they can do this is that methane is invisible. In contrast, an oil spill is very visible and always makes headlines. Meanwhile, in the Texas Permian there is an ongoing massive methane spill that remains invisible unless viewed through the lens of an OGI camera.
Simple Economics
In May we explained in an op-ed in Scientific American how economics are driving the methane pollution crisis. For a good portion of 2024, the price of Permian natural gas (aka methane) has been negative. So oil producers have a choice to make: pay someone to take it away or dump it in the atmosphere. It’s the same choice that was made for the oil wells in this recent study and they always choose whatever path makes a bit more money.
“Residents reported that after the gas processing company left the community, collection pipes were removed or disconnected from wells, and the site of the gas processing plant was remediated.”
The study notes that there were no gas gathering lines at the wells, only oil. But it also notes that there used to be but the local gas processing plant shut down so then the gas gathering lines were removed and the gas is just being vented into the atmosphere. It was an economic decision. A decision being made across the Texas oil industry because regulators do nothing to stop it. For the oil producers, gas is a waste product with zero economic value. So they throw it away – into our atmosphere. Unfortunately, as I’ve written, despite the huge climate impacts of dumping methane into the atmosphere, the new methane regulations are unlikely to change industry behavior in Texas. This is just another example of how the only way to stop the methane pollution crisis in Texas is to phase out oil and gas production.
In a new report by the environmental intelligence firm Kayrros, they noted that the U.S. is one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to methane emissions from oil and gas production. They also explained the situation in Iran that is causing that country to also be one or the worst offenders.
So, Texas and Iran have a similar approach which at its basic level is to not invest in the required equipment to capture methane and then just dump the methane into the atmosphere. Kayrros described its latest analysis as “sobering.”
Abandoned Wells
The wells in this study are also an example of the issue of the oil and gas industry not properly plugging wells at the end of their useful economic life. Instead of operators spending the money to close these old wells they choose to continue producing small amounts of oil while they vent the gas. This is another failure of the regulatory system. The likely outcome for the wells in this study is that eventually the operator will declare bankruptcy and walk away from the clean up obligations which will be passed on to the public. It is what the industry has done and continues to do across the country.
Hydrogen Sulfide
The impacts of the Texas oil and gas industry venting methane pollution are contributing to global warming. However, unless you live near oil and gas production, you are not exposed to the toxins spewing out of the wells in this study and oil and gas production wells across Texas.
Inside Climate News spoke to Abigail Edgar, one of the study’s authors, about the situation they found:
“Here in Texas we rely heavily on the oil industry and protect the oil industry. And I think rightfully so,” Edgar said. “But there has to be something done for these neighbors. We’re slowly poisoning these communities.”
Edgar was talking about the hydrogen sulfide levels they found at these oil wells. Hydrogen Sulfide is getting more attention recently as it is highly harmful to human health and the Texas oil industry is pumping it into the air across the state.
It is unrealistic to think that an industry that is choosing to poison Texas communities to make a bit more money is going to care one bit about the climate. Installing gathering lines for methane and dealing with hydrogen sulfide cuts into profits in many situations in the Texas oil fields, so they simply don’t do it. And no one can currently stop them.
Regulatory Failure
Oil and gas regulatory action in Texas mostly consists of rubber stamping approvals for new production and letting the companies take it from there. How are companies allowed to vent poisonous and deadly hydrogen sulfide? Because the regulators let them. Regulators are tasked with monitoring air quality in oil production areas to insure that this doesn’t occur. However, one proven way for Texas regulators to not have to address this issue is to simply not monitor the air. This new study notes that, “the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality does operate a background air monitoring station in Lockhart, TX, but only measures ozone there.” So they don’t monitor for hydrogen sulfide and thus they can’t be held accountable for allowing situations like the one found in this study. This is a problem across Texas.
The regulatory situation in Texas is a disaster. Here is the description of the wells in this study.
“We made emission rate measurements at 46 wells on private land in coordination with landowners, most of which had a status of actively producing, but some for which no production data could be found, and some which had a status of inactive or plugged and abandoned (despite signs of production).”
A well that records show was plugged is still producing oil. Anyone hoping for regulations and regulators to fix the ongoing methane emissions disaster in the Permian is fooling themselves.
The majority of people in this country have the luxury of not living close enough to oil and gas production facilities. We don’t smell the “rotten egg” smell of hydrogen sulfide outside of our homes. Our children’s schools are not being poisoned with oil industry waste. However, the methane pollution does impact the whole planet. If we want to address that in the short time we have to make a real difference, it is important to understand that in Texas, regulations aren’t going to have a meaningful impact. This will require a major change and approach at the national level and as Sharon likes to say, “The best available control technology for methane is to keep it in the ground.”
