For years, super emitters were treated as the primary driver of methane emissions, and regulations were built on that assumption. As measurement technology has improved, the picture has shifted.
A 2025 EDF study found that across a variety of oil and gas site types, about 70% of total emissions came from sources below 100 kg/hour. When focusing only on production facilities, this share rises to about 80%.
Our findings tell a similar story, based on high-temporal-resolution continuous monitoring focused on production sites. In our dataset, only about 10% to 20% of total estimated emissions came from sources above 100 kg/hour, meaning the majority came from sources below that threshold.
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The implication is straightforward. If a methane program optimizes only for the largest leaks, it can still miss most of the emissions. The best strategies address the largest leaks quickly while also reducing the cumulative impact of smaller sources that add up over time.