“No Excuse” for Oil and Gas Methane Cut Failure

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has hit out at the oil and gas sector, saying there is “no excuse” for its failure to cut methane emissions last year. The energy sector accounted for 40% of total methane emissions attributed to human activity during that 12-month period, according to the IEA’s Global Methane Tracker, confirming a slight increase in the sector’s methane emissions year-on-year, reaching 135 million tonnes in 2022. Coal, oil and natural gas operations are each responsible for around 40 million tonnes of methane emissions, with the incomplete combustion of biomass and leaks from end-use oil and gas equipment accounting for the remainder. The IEA criticised the energy sector for failing to achieve drastic cuts in methane emissions, noting that the technologies needed to take action are “available and are cheaper than ever to implement” and could cut around 70% of methane emissions from fossil fuel operations. Halting all non-emergency flaring and venting of methane would costing roughly US$100 billion to implement, the IEA said.  

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