Large methane leak detected in Pemex oil field in Mexico

Published:

7 Sep 2022 05:05 GMT

The researchers assume that the Mexican state oil company is releasing the natural gas that reaches the surface into the atmosphere, without burning it. It is an illegal practice that is harmful to the environment.

Three satellites recorded another large leak of methane from a marine platform located in the group of oil fields Ku-Maloob-Zaap, in the Gulf of Mexico, belonging to the state company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Satellite images of the methane plumes were captured between August 5 and 29 of this year, said to Reuters Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

This new record comes after last December the team of researchers led by Irakulis-Loitxate also discovered a massive leak of methane in the same group of oil fields, the largest in Mexico by volume of production. His find was diffused this June in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

Now, during the escape that took place in the six days of August, 44,064 tons of methane were released into the atmosphere from the oil field, equivalent to 3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, estimated Irakulis-Loitxate. Experts say a release on this scale is unusual and environmentally catastrophic, as methane is considered a potent greenhouse gas because it traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

What can be the cause?

Since the Methane is the main component of natural gas, it is routinely flared to reduce its harmful impact on the environment. The researchers assume that Pemex is venting natural gas that reaches the surface as a byproduct of oil exploration and production. This illegal practice consists of releasing natural gas directly into the atmosphere, without burning it.

Irakulis-Loitxate said that Pemex had been releasing “large amounts of methane” when the flare was not lit. This suspicion was confirmed with the use of a fourth satellite that, during the periods of gas ventilation, coinciding with the peaks of the highest concentration of methane, did not detect the radiation that the flares would have emitted.

The proportion of natural gas that comes to the surface as a by-product increases as older fields are depletedlike those in the Gulf of Mexico. Oilfield geologists say this poses operational challenges and, as a result, more natural gas is wasted. in this same area It occurredlast year, a strong underwater fire after an explosion in a marine pipeline.