Satellite study identifies the largest methane super-emitters in three US gas basins

Large plumes become visible

A new UCLA analysis using satellite measurements has ranked major methane super-emitting sites across three of the United States' largest oil and gas regions. Researchers examined observations from the Permian, Appalachian and Haynesville-Bossier basins between January 2025 and June 2026. The study detected 1,097 plumes from oil and gas sources, exposing releases that conventional inventories can miss.

The team combined Tanager-1 satellite data with public ownership and operating records. It could assign a potentially responsible operator to roughly one-third of detected plumes, illustrating both the value of remote sensing and the continuing weakness of site-level transparency. The three basins account for about two-thirds of US gas production and feed the country's expanding liquefied-natural-gas export system.

Energy Transfer leads the ranking

Energy Transfer was linked to four of the 15 highlighted sites and 75 methane plumes over the study period, three times the number associated with the next operator. A gas-processing facility near Shreveport, Louisiana, ranked as the largest single site, with an average observed release rate of 1.56 tonnes an hour during detected events. The company did not answer the Guardian's questions.

The rankings identify likely operational responsibility, not a judicial finding of unlawful conduct. Releases can result from leaks, equipment venting or planned pressure reductions, and the available records do not determine the cause of every plume. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, the only contacted company to respond, said releases at its storage facility could occur during safe maintenance and that the site complied with applicable rules.

Satellites reveal only part of the total

Cloud cover, observation timing and incomplete ownership records limit what satellites can capture. The Guardian reported that even recent national estimates place actual US oil and gas methane emissions well above official inventories. The UCLA work is therefore best understood as a ranking of large events visible during the observation window, not a complete accounting of every operator's emissions.

The climate significance is immediate because methane produces powerful near-term warming but breaks down faster than carbon dioxide. A July United Nations update said satellites can identify major leaks within days, yet responsible governments or companies responded to only 13 percent of alerts. The next test is whether public attribution prompts repairs, better reporting and regulatory action at repeatedly observed sites.