Methane Emissions from Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells in California.

California hosts ∼124,000 abandoned and plugged (AP) oil and gas wells, ∼38,000 idle wells, and ∼63,000 active wells, whose methane (CH4) emissions remain largely unquantified at levels below ∼2 kg CH4 h-1. We sampled 121 wells using two methods: a rapid mobile plume integration method (detection ∼0.5 g CH4 h-1) and a more sensitive static flux chamber (detection ∼1 × 10-6 g CH4 h-1). We measured small but detectable methane emissions from 34 of 97 AP wells (mean emission: 0.286 g CH4 h-1). In contrast, we found emissions from 11 of 17 idle wells-which are not currently producing (mean: 35.4 g CH4 h-1)-4 of 6 active wells (mean: 189.7 g CH4 h-1), and one unplugged well-an open casing with no infrastructure present (10.9 g CH4 h-1). Our results support previous findings that emissions from plugged wells are low but are more substantial from idle wells. In addition, our smaller sample of active wells suggests that their reported emissions are consistent with previous studies and deserve further attention. Due to limited access, we could not measure wells in most major active oil and gas fields in California; therefore, we recommend additional data collection from all types of wells but especially active and idle wells.

Simulating and Quantifying Multiple Natural Subsea CO2 Seeps at Panarea Island (Aeolian Islands, Italy) as a Proxy for Potential Leakage from Subseabed Carbon Storage Sites.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) has been discussed as a potentially significant mitigation option for the ongoing climate warming. Natural CO2 release sites serve as natural laboratories to study subsea CO2 leakage in order to identify suitable analytical methods and numerical models to develop best-practice procedures for the monitoring of subseabed storage sites. We present a new model of bubble (plume) dynamics, advection-dispersion of dissolved CO2, and carbonate chemistry. The focus is on a medium-sized CO2 release from 294 identified small point sources around Panarea Island (South-East Tyrrhenian Sea, Aeolian Islands, Italy) in water depths of about 40-50 m. This study evaluates how multiple CO2 seep sites generate a temporally variable plume of dissolved CO2. The model also allows the overall flow rate of CO2 to be estimated based on field measurements of pH. Simulations indicate a release of ∼6900 t y-1 of CO2 for the investigated area and highlight an important role of seeps located at >20 m water depth in the carbon budget of the Panarea offshore gas release system. This new transport-reaction model provides a framework for understanding potential future leaks from CO2 storage sites.

Shallow Gas Migration along Hydrocarbon Wells-An Unconsidered, Anthropogenic Source of Biogenic Methane in the North Sea.

Shallow gas migration along hydrocarbon wells constitutes a potential methane emission pathway that currently is not recognized in any regulatory framework or greenhouse gas inventory. Recently, the first methane emission measurements at three abandoned offshore wells in the Central North Sea (CNS) were conducted showing that considerable amounts of biogenic methane originating from shallow gas accumulations in the overburden of deep reservoirs were released by the boreholes. Here, we identify numerous wells poking through shallow gas pockets in 3-D seismic data of the CNS indicating that about one-third of the wells may leak, potentially releasing a total of 3-17 kt of methane per year into the North Sea. This poses a significant contribution to the North Sea methane budget. A large fraction of this gas (∼42%) may reach the atmosphere via direct bubble transport (0-2 kt yr-1) and via diffusive exchange of methane dissolving in the surface mixed layer (1-5 kt yr-1), as indicated by numerical modeling. In the North Sea and in other hydrocarbon-prolific provinces of the world shallow gas pockets are frequently observed in the sedimentary overburden and aggregate leakages along the numerous wells drilled in those areas may be significant.

Enhanced CO2 uptake at a shallow Arctic Ocean seep field overwhelms the positive warming potential of emitted methane.

Continued warming of the Arctic Ocean in coming decades is projected to trigger the release of teragrams (1 Tg = 106 tons) of methane from thawing subsea permafrost on shallow continental shelves and dissociation of methane hydrate on upper continental slopes. On the shallow shelves (<100 m water depth), methane released from the seafloor may reach the atmosphere and potentially amplify global warming. On the other hand, biological uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) has the potential to offset the positive warming potential of emitted methane, a process that has not received detailed consideration for these settings. Continuous sea-air gas flux data collected over a shallow ebullitive methane seep field on the Svalbard margin reveal atmospheric CO2 uptake rates (-33,300 ± 7,900 µmol m-2⋅d-1) twice that of surrounding waters and ∼1,900 times greater than the diffusive sea-air methane efflux (17.3 ± 4.8 µmol m-2⋅d-1). The negative radiative forcing expected from this CO2 uptake is up to 231 times greater than the positive radiative forcing from the methane emissions. Surface water characteristics (e.g., high dissolved oxygen, high pH, and enrichment of 13C in CO2) indicate that upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water from near the seafloor accompanies methane emissions and stimulates CO2 consumption by photosynthesizing phytoplankton. These findings challenge the widely held perception that areas characterized by shallow-water methane seeps and/or strongly elevated sea-air methane flux always increase the global atmospheric greenhouse gas burden.