OGCI sets zero target for methane emissions

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a group of 12 oil and gas majors representing 30% of global production, said March 8 they had launched a new leadership initiative targeting the elimination of methane emissions by 2030.

The Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative, it said, would treat the elimination of methane emissions from oil and gas operations the same way the industry treats safety.

“With this leadership initiative, we are calling for an all-in approach that treats methane emissions as seriously as the oil and gas industry already treats safety: we aim for zero and we will strive to do what is needed to get there,” OGCI executive committee chair Bjorn Otto Sverdrup said. “We are encouraging all oil and gas companies to join us in this approach.”

To achieve the elimination of methane emissions, initiative supporters will put in place all reasonable means to avoid flaring and venting, repair detected leaks, deploy monitoring and measurement technologies as they emerge and provide transparent, annual reports of their methane emissions.

“We recognise that eliminating methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas industry represents one of the best short-term opportunities for contributing to climate change mitigation and for advancing the goals of the Paris agreement,” OGCI chair Bob Dudley said. “The time has come for us to go further, and we believe that the oil and gas industry can and should lead this effort.”

OGCI has already taken significant action to reduce methane emissions, setting targets, developing and deploying technologies and participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives to raise awareness and improve practices. The member companies have reported collective progress on methane since 2017, reducing aggregate absolute methane emissions by more than 30% in the last five years and committing to a methane intensity target of well below 0.20% by 2025.