According to EPA’s draft Greenhouse Gas Inventory, methane emissions from petroleum and natural gas systems totaled 203.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMT CO2 Eq.) in 2011. By 2015, that number had fallen to 201.5 MMT CO2 Eq.

The numbers for petroleum systems are even more notable, as the GHG Inventory shows falling methane emissions each year since 2011. Over the past half-decade, methane emissions from petroleum systems are down more than 17 percent, according to EPA. A Texans for Natural Gas review of EPA data last fall also showed methane emissions had declined in major producing regions across Texas.

SOURCE: U.S. EPA

Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that scraps a rule from the Bureau of Land Management targeting venting and flaring of methane on federal and tribal lands. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, said BLM’s rule was “totally unnecessary.”

The U.S. Senate may vote on the House-passed measure as early as this week.