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Methane Leaks From Small Oil Wells Spur Call for Stiffer U.S. Regulation

  • Study shows low-production wells are outsize source of methane
  • EPA proposed largely exempting sites from regular monitoring
A decades-old, plugged and abandoned oil well in Crane County, Texas.

A decades-old, plugged and abandoned oil well in Crane County, Texas.

Photographer: Matthew Busch/Bloomberg

Environmentalists are calling on the Biden administration to crack down on methane leaks from low-producing U.S. oil wells, after new research shows they are releasing a disproportionate share of the potent greenhouse gas. 

According to the study in Nature Communications, such marginal wells are gushing some 4 million metric tons of methane annually -- at a rate 6 to 12 times higher than the national average.