Data · dataset · 2026
Quantifying Methane Emissions from Oil Fields in the Central Valley of CA
Listed in ZivaHub and Deakin Research Online and DMU Figshare — shown once because both records carry DOI 10.1021/acsestair.6c00126.s001
In 2024, California was the eighth-largest producer of crude oil in the U.S. by volume with ∼50,000 active wells.
Description
Working with the California Energy Commission, we measured methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions from 172 actively producing oil wells (219 total observations with 47 repeat measurements) either with or without casinghead gas collection systems (GCS) in two oil fields near Bakersfield in Kern County. We also measured benzene (C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>) emissions at a subset of wells to assess C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub> to CH<sub>4</sub> ratios.
The mean mass-based ratio for C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>:CH<sub>4</sub> was 7.8 × 10<sup>–7</sup> with a mean benzene emission rate of 0.9 mg h<sup>–1</sup>. Wells with an open-ended line (OEL) emitted ∼100-fold more methane on average than wells with a GCS: 1.26 kg h<sup>–1</sup> and 0.01 kg h<sup>–1</sup>, respectively. The prevalence of wells with a GCS rose sharply with increasing oil and gas production, rising from 36% for wells producing <2 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) to 97% for wells producing ≥15 boed.
Read the rest (1 more)
The top 5.7% highest-emitting wells were responsible for ≥50% of total methane emissions from casinghead gas. Methane emissions were overwhelmingly dominated by wells without a GCS, accounting for 98.5% of total casinghead gas emissions across both fields. Capturing gas from these wells would eliminate almost all of the methane emissions we detected.
Links
Where it is published
- DOI doi.org/10.1021/acsestair.6c00126.s001 ↗
DOI / persistent id · from zivahub uct ac za
Catalogue records · 1
- OAI-PMH record api.figshare.com/v2/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai%3Af… ↗
metadata API · from zivahub uct ac za
Topics
- From keywords
- Chemistry · Chemistry · Chemistry · Earth & Environmental Science · Earth & Environmental Science · Earth & Environmental Science · Ecology · Ecology · Ecology · Energy · Energy · Energy · Life Sciences · Life Sciences · Life Sciences · Medicine & Health · Medicine & Health · Medicine & Health · Methane · Methane · Methane
Provenance · 3 source records, 26 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZivaHub | oai:figshare.com:article/34037905 | 6 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Deakin Research Online | oai:figshare.com:article/34037905 | 6 d ago | JSON v1 |
| DMU Figshare | oai:figshare.com:article/34037905 | 6 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:3103 | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | vocabulary-mapper@1.0.0 | keywords['Ecology'] |
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:3103 | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | vocabulary-mapper@1.0.0 | keywords['Ecology'] |
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:3103 | mapping · dro deakin edu au | vocabulary-mapper@1.0.0 | keywords['Ecology'] |
| concepts[field].local:field:chemistry | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:chemistry | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:chemistry | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:energy | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:energy | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:energy | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:life-sciences | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:life-sciences | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:life-sciences | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:medicine-health | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:medicine-health | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:medicine-health | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[subject].local:topic:methane | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | vocabulary-mapper@1.0.0 | keywords['methane emissions'] |
| concepts[subject].local:topic:methane | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | vocabulary-mapper@1.0.0 | keywords['methane emissions'] |
| concepts[subject].local:topic:methane | mapping · dro deakin edu au | vocabulary-mapper@1.0.0 | keywords['methane emissions'] |
| description | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | /metadata/dc/description |
| license | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | /metadata/dc/rights |
| publication_date | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | /metadata/dc/title |