The study highlights a relevant oversight in O&G inventories: none of them include realistic representation of emissions from upset conditions, a problem that extends beyond Colorado and the upstream sector. This emphasizes the need for a comprehensive intensity rule to address abnormal emissions. It is essential to acknowledge that integrating and comparing aerial/ground measurements with inventories must be executed thoughtfully, considering that measurements are typically intermittent and instantaneous while inventories are incomplete and built with average emissions over an annual time frames. The novel methodology proposed in this study proposes a shift in mindset towards the idea that only by increasing the number of aerial or ground surveys inventories can be improved. While conducting thousands of measurements may indeed lead to improved MIIs, this approach is constrained by practical and financial limitations. Instead, surveys should be designed to adequately characterize abnormal emissions so they could be integrated with annual inventory data using spatially and temporal bottom-up inventories with fine time-resolution, such as MAES.