Not on track
Oil and gas extraction, processing and transportation were responsible for 5.2 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent (GtCO2-eq) emissions in 2017 – nearly 15% of global energy sector GHG emissions. Half of these emissions (2.6 GtCO2-eq) are from flaring and from methane released during oil and gas operations. In the SDS, these flared and vented emissions fall to less than 1.2 Gt CO2-eq by 2025. Quantitative emissions reduction targets by some companies and governments are a welcome first step to achieving this level, but an immediate step-change in policy ambition and industry buy-in is needed, along with technological progress on detecting, measuring and avoiding emissions.
Christophe McGlade
Lead author
Contributors: Glenn Sondak, Tim Gould
Sources of GHG emissions from oil and gas operations in 2017
Methane Flaring Other
Oil 1079.10 265.04 1791.91
Gas 1288.00 0.00 803.01
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Back to TCEP overview 🕐 Last updated Monday, May 27, 2019
Recommended actions
Oil and gas satisfy just under half of global energy demand in 2040 in the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS). A key component of this scenario is that oil and gas are supplied in a way that minimises adverse social and environmental impacts: immediate and major reductions in flaring and methane emissions are central to this.
Industry
Recent quantitative emissions reductions targets set by international oil companies to reduce methane emissions and flaring are a welcome first step towards putting this sector on track with the rapid emissions reductions of the SDS.
Seeking to continuously reduce emissions is as important as setting quantitative limits, as is third-party verification and transparency on data and methods.
In addition, large volumes of methane are emitted from assets operated by companies that have not yet committed to any specific reduction targets.
Progressive companies should seek to build partnerships and expand their emissions reduction criteria to oil and gas produced from joint ventures and non-operated assets.
Policy and regulation
However, there are limits to what can be achieved by voluntary action. Policies and regulations will therefore be central to reducing methane emissions.
Commitments to methane emissions reductions can be an important addition to Nationally Determined Contributions aligned with the Paris Agreement. Although a key first step is to improve data gathering and reporting, a lack of detailed information on emissions levels should not preclude the introduction of abatement goals. Policies should concurrently seek to encourage operators to take advantage of abatement opportunities.
Policies should be particularly clear and unambiguous on the treatment of associated gas.
Fiscal terms should clarify ownership of associated gas volumes and encourage or require its utilisation: one option would be to approve new oil developments only if they include plans to utilise associated gas.
Finance
Financial organisations can also assist by increasing or renewing their willingness to provide funding for emissions reduction technologies in the oil and gas sector.
For flaring, large volumes of gas are often wasted in small-scale operations on an intermittent basis. A core challenge is to provide economically viable solutions to bring the gas to market, especially in offshore operations.
Fuel supply technologies
There are a variety of well-established technologies that can help to reduce flaring and methane emissions from oil and gas operations. There have also been some positive recent developments from both industry and policy-makers seeking to reduce these emissions.
However current technology deployment rates, policy ambition and industry efforts are far from on track with the pace and extent of reductions needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Scenario.
Methane emissions from oil and gas
Methane emissions from the oil and gas sector reached close to 80 Mt (or 2.4 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent) in 2017. This is equal to 6% of global energy sector GHG emissions. Emissions remain high despite initial industry-led initiatives and government policies announced recently. Implementing abatement options quickly and at scale remains a real challenge. Policies will be critical to achieve the 75% emissions reduction by 2030 demonstrated in the SDS. Further innovation is needed both to increase understanding of emissions levels and to help reduce the cost of emissions mitigation strategies such as leak detection and repair.
Global methane emissions from oil and gas operations
Methane emissions Methane emissions (SDS) 2000 62.72 2001 62.85 2002 63.34 2003 65.31 2004 68.94 2005 70.73 2006 72.25 2007 73.73 2008 75.15 2009 72.11 2010 75.55 2011 73 2012 76.83 2013 75.75 2014 75.39 2015 76.01 2016 76.69 2017 78.9 2020 64.61 2025 39.85 2030 19.4
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Flaring emissions
Around 140 bcm of gas was flared in 2017, equivalent to Africa’s gas consumption. This is a slight decrease from 2010 but higher than in 2000. Most flared gas is converted into CO2, resulting in emissions of around 270 MtCO2. Russia, Iraq, Iran and the United States account for almost half of flaring globally. An increasing number of government and industry commitments aim to eliminate flaring by 2030, but most are voluntary. Under the SDS, flaring rates drop rapidly and are all but eliminated by 2025.
Historic and projected flaring by region in the Sustainable Development Scenario
Africa Asia-Pacific Central & South America Europe Eurasia Middle East North America 1970 52 12.519762 50.722052 0.00864686 34.63151506 123.85883 40.61296 1975 64 16.803543 25.244286 7.00962527 37.29789461 165.516029 19.90578 1980 80 21.8532221 25.534428 9.67202071 35.0730818 136.09493 19.08784 1985 56 21.1536477 27.2013038 6.23991315 52.5720746 40.86576 16.38869 1990 68 26.04678857 26.806126 7.9854917 54.0107986 52.15157 14.30255 1995 85 19.94590296 26.4424544 8.990702565 55.0276818 28.4337005 24.45987 2000 67 19.92587022 21.0788146 8.921253262 65.1729482 45.53213 17.26972 2005 61 18.6053847 23.3619898 7.8642048 103.3990123 64.08123553 11.55068 2010 63 17.1769781 30.6237142 5.99521454 82.9683165 55.940256 18.66665 2015 56 17.661 29.622 5.558 80.757 63.290 24.397 2017 54 17.14646 28.7595939 5.39586407 78.405235 61.446779 23.68599 2020 32.3527269 11.084129 18.0114781 3.48298475 53.6684192 37.777659 19.689625 2025 4.41308276 1.49070121 2.0410699 0.43006735 7.0984036 6.0445194 2.905354 2030 3.8615244 1.21312001 1.80547702 0.300128955 5.90227053 5.7906274 2.551162
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