Appalachian Methane Initiative's Latest Report Confirms Appalachian Basin as Lowest Methane Emissions Intensity for Unconventional Natural Gas Development
PITTSBURGH, March 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI) – a coalition of leading U.S. natural gas companies including Ascent Resources, CNX Resources, EQT Corporation, Equitrans Midstream Corporation (now part of EQT), Expand Energy Corporation, MPLX and Seneca Resources, engaged with independent monitoring providers, technical consultants, and top-tier universities – today released the findings of its 2024 basin-wide methane monitoring program. The 2024 program was a notable expansion on the 2023 pilot and produced significant results, demonstrating that the Appalachian Basin's methane-emissions intensity is the lowest of the natural gas-producing basins in the United States.
The study, conducted in collaboration with the Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL) and SLR International (SLR), utilized more than 15,000 aerial surveys across approximately 20,500 square miles of the Appalachian Basin to measure emissions from oil and gas operations and other methane sources in the region, including coal mines and landfills.
Key Findings of the Report Include:
- Appalachian Basin has the lowest methane emissions intensity of any major oil and gas producing basin in the United States
Methane emission intensities across all AMI operators were measured at below 0.1%, significantly lower than other major gas-producing basins. The large sample size and repeated surveys confirm the region's extremely low emissions profile. - Coal emissions are significantly higher than those of oil and gas sites
Coal mines exhibit the highest average emissions per site of any surveyed facility types, measured on average to be 450 kg/hr per site, or almost two orders of magnitude larger than oil and gas sites in the Appalachian Basin. - Majority of large emission events are from coal mines
Aerial surveys identified coal mines as the dominant source of large emissions events (instantaneous releases exceeding 100 kg/h). - No statistically significant difference between AMI and non-AMI oil and gas sources
Analysis found no significant differences in emission size distribution or emission factors between AMI-member and non-AMI oil and gas sources. This suggests that AMI's measurement approach is broadly representative of the Appalachian Basin's natural gas industry.
The Path Forward
The AMI 2024 campaign underscores the effectiveness of coordinated emissions measurement and data transparency in identifying opportunities for methane reduction. By leveraging large-scale aerial surveys, AMI members are setting a new standard for emissions accountability and methane mitigation in the natural gas sector.
AMI's 2025 expansion plans include:
- Monitoring more than 32,000 square miles of the Appalachian Basin, including gas production facilities representing 34.88 bcf/d of production capacity – encompassing nearly 100% of the daily production within the Basin, a nearly sixfold increase in volume compared with that covered in AMI's inaugural program in 2023.
- An increase of monitoring of oil and gas sites to more than 6,700, up from approximately 6,200 in the 2024 campaign.
- An increase in monitoring non-oil and gas sites, such as coal mines/vents and landfills, to approximately 230, up from 181 in the 2024 campaign.
"The Appalachian Methane Initiative sets the gold standard for systematic, large-scale, and transparent methane emissions monitoring that has driven real emissions reductions," said Arvind Ravikumar, a faculty member of the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and an EEMDL Co-Director. "The science developed through collaborative projects like AMI can pave the way towards near-zero-emissions natural gas supply chains."
About AMI:
The Appalachian Methane Initiative is a coalition of leading U.S. natural gas companies engaged with independent monitoring providers, technical consultants, and top-tier universities. Through an aligned strategy to methane monitoring and a cooperative approach to emissions reduction best practices, the coalition aims to further enhance methane emissions monitoring and reductions throughout the Appalachian Basin.
For more information and to access the 2024 report, please visit the EEMDL website at https://www.ceesa.utexas.edu/ami.
Contacts
Ascent Resources
Chris Benton
VP – Finance & Investor Relations
[email protected]
CNX Resources
Brian Aiello
Vice President – External Relations
[email protected]
Expand Energy Corporation
Brooke Coe
Manager - Communications
[email protected]
EQT Corporation
Amy Rogers
Head of Strategic Communications
[email protected]
MPLX LP
Jamal Kheiry
Communications Manager
[email protected]
Seneca Resources Company, LLC
Kathy Bandych
Director, EHSQ & Sustainability
[email protected]
SOURCE The Appalachian Methane Initiative
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