title: Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania.
abstract: Abandoned oil and gas wells provide a potential pathway for subsurface migration and emissions of methane and other fluids to the atmosphere. Little is known about methane fluxes from the millions of abandoned wells that exist in the United States. Here, we report direct measurements of methane fluxes from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, using static flux chambers. A total of 42 and 52 direct measurements were made at wells and at locations near the wells ("controls") in forested, wetland, grassland, and river areas in July, August, October 2013 and January 2014, respectively. The mean methane flow rates at these well locations were 0.27 kg/d/well, and the mean methane flow rate at the control locations was 4.5 × 10(-6) kg/d/location. Three out of the 19 measured wells were high emitters that had methane flow rates that were three orders of magnitude larger than the median flow rate of 1.3 × 10(-3) kg/d/well. Assuming the mean flow rate found here is representative of all abandoned wells in Pennsylvania, we scaled the methane emissions to be 4-7% of estimated total anthropogenic methane emissions in Pennsylvania. The presence of ethane, propane, and n-butane, along with the methane isotopic composition, indicate that the emitted methane is predominantly of thermogenic origin. These measurements show that methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells can be significant. The research required to quantify these emissions nationally should be undertaken so they can be accurately described and included in greenhouse gas emissions inventories.
authors.affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, cm1kang@gmail.com mauzeral@princeton.edu.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
authors.forename: Cynthia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kanno
authors.affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.affiliation: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and cm1kang@gmail.com mauzeral@princeton.edu.
authors.forename: Denise L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Mauzerall
authors.affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Celia
authors.affiliation: Geosciences Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544.
authors.forename: Yuheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Geosciences Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544.
authors.forename: Tullis C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Onstott
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis*; D061329:Oil and Gas Fields; D010414:Pennsylvania
chemical_list: D008697:Methane
keywords: abandoned wells; hydrocarbons; isotopes; methane emissions; oil and gas