Australia's coal seam gas industry has rejected a peer-reviewed report that suggests greenhouse gas emissions from drilling and fracking are 50 per cent worse than thought.

The Harvard University-led study found methane leaks from the US fossil fuel industry were far higher than official estimates.

"The CSIRO and Department of Environment are currently reviewing the way natural gas emissions are measured, estimated and reported": APPEA chief technical officer Rick Wilkinson. Credit:Glenn Hunt

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) said it had no implications for the local industry, which claims coal seam gas is far cleaner than coal.

The result, published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contradicted a move by the US Environmental Protection Agency to cut its estimates of methane emissions from fossil fuel extraction and processing by 25 per cent to 30 per cent for 1990-2011.