Measurement-based carbon intensity of US offshore oil and gas production

Abstract

Abstract The United States (US) produces oil and gas from six offshore regions: the North Slope of Alaska, Cook Inlet in Alaska, offshore California, and three Gulf of Mexico (GOM) sub-regions: state shallow, federal shallow, and deep waters. Measurement-based assessment of direct greenhouse gas emissions from this production can provide real-world information on carbon emissions to inform decisions on current and future production. In evaluating the climate impact of production, the carbon intensity (CI, the ratio of greenhouse gases emitted compared to the energy of fuels produced) is often used, though it is rarely quantified with measurements. Here, we complete an observational evaluation of the US offshore sector and present the largest current set of measurement-based CIs. We collected airborne measurements of methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides from the North Slope, Cook Inlet, and California and combined with prior GOM results. For Alaska and California, we found emissions agree with facility-level inventories, however, the inventories miss some facilities. The US offshore CI, on a 100 year GWP basis, is 5.7 g CO2e/MJ[4.5, 6.8, 95% confidence interval]. This is greater than double the CI based on the national US inventory, with the discrepancy attributed primarily to methane emissions from GOM shallow waters, with a methane dominated CI of 16[12, 22] for GOM federal shallow waters and 43[25–65] for state shallow waters. Regional intensities vary, with carbon dioxide emissions largely responsible for CI on the North Slope 11[7.5, 15], in Cook Inlet 22[13, 34], offshore California 7.2[3.2, 13], and in GOM deep waters 1.1[1.0, 1.1]. These observations indicate offshore operations outside of the GOM in the US have modest methane emissions, but the CI can still be elevated due to direct carbon dioxide emissions. Accurate assessment of different offshore basins, with differing characteristics and practices, is important for the climate considerations of expanded production.