More than 40% of 900 Permian Basin oil and gas operations sites had major methane plumes, an aerial survey found. The survey, the eighth of its kind, was conducted by EDF in early November. One-third of smaller wells had significant emissions that lasted for days and 14% of the methane plumes came from malfunctioning flares. Methane is a highly-potent heat-trapping gas and dramatically and quickly reducing methane pollution is widely seen as the best way to limit global warming in the near term. Oil majors have sought to offload their Permian Basin operations, in part to get methane pollution off their books, which could lead to even more methane pollution. The Biden administration has pledged to cut methane pollution by 30% by 2030, the main target of its highly-touted Global Methane Pledge. (Reuters)
