Major Oil and Gas Producers Raise Ambition on Methane

(October 26, 2017) Ten energy producers representing one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies today announced a commitment to work towards a “near-zero” methane emissions future. Reducing methane, a powerful pollutant, is a central part of the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative agenda with participant companies (BP, China National Petroleum Company, Eni, Pemex, Reliance Industries Limited, Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell, Saudi Aramco, Statoil and Total) all promising to make prevention of methane leaks a top priority across their global operations.

“Reducing methane across the oil and gas industry is one of the fastest, cheapest opportunities we have to slow the rate of warming today, even as progress on carbon reductions continues. For industry, methane is also a fundamental business challenge – one that will only grow as policymakers and investors worldwide continue to focus on methane’s outsized climate effects, and as competitive threats from cleaner alternatives intensify.

“The single most important factor now is speed. Fortunately, reductions are getting easier and cheaper every day. Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency estimated that it’s economically feasible to cut oil and gas methane emissions by 75 percent with current technology, and that as much as two thirds of those savings can be achieved at no net cost.

“What do these companies need to do to live up to the expectations they created today? They need to set ambitious goals for both the oil and gas sides of the business that match the scale of the challenge. Transparent accounting is essential, and so is early action. This isn’t an assignment that can wait for the last minute.”

                  - Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund