COVID-19 impact on the oil and gas industry NO2 emissions: A case study of the Permian basin

This resulted in an unprecedented scenario to evaluate the contribution of the O&G (Oil and Gas) industry NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) emissions in the Permian basin (United States), currently the second largest hydrocarbon-bearing area on Earth. TROPOMI (Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument), on board the Sentinel-5P satellite, has captured the impact of the oil and gas industry emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown.

A generalized drop (∼30%) of NO2 emissions derived using the divergence method in comparison with 2019 was observed following the decline in production and drilling (13% and 68% respectively) during the lockdown. NO2 tropospheric columns were less impacted with a smaller decrease (∼4%) across the basins. This study demonstrates that the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on NO2 emissions was not only present in urban areas but also in vast O&G production regions, which shows the potential of TROPOMI to assess future pollution mitigation strategies for this industry.