Tackling Methane Leakage from Oil and Gas

The author contends that the European Green Deal lacks necessary provisions to address methane leakage from the oil and gas sector. While some European companies have committed to a "near-zero methane" future, the author argues that voluntary efforts are insufficient and that the EU should implement enforceable regulations and performance standards for both domestic operators and gas importers to drive global reductions.

• Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a short-term climate impact 84 times greater than CO2, and emissions from the oil and gas value chain—including production, processing, transmission, and distribution—total more than 6.7 billion tons of CO2 equivalent annually, representing 16 percent of all human-made CO2 emissions.
• Technical solutions to fix methane leaks already exist and are often cost-effective, making the oil and gas sector a prime target for abatement, yet the industry has generally lacked the urgency to address these emissions at scale.
• Several major European oil and gas companies, including BP, Equinor, ENI, Shell, and Total, have committed via the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to a "near-zero methane" future, aiming for a methane intensity of 0.20 percent by 2025.
• Voluntary commitments are insufficient; the author argues that ambitious regulation is required to make methane intensity targets enforceable and to compel national oil companies and other operators to act.
• Europe can use its position as the world's largest net importer of natural gas to influence major suppliers such as Russia, Algeria, Qatar, and the United States by setting performance standards for companies importing gas into European markets.

APA

RMI (2020). Tackling Methane Leakage from Oil and Gas. https://rmi.org/resources/tackling-methane-leakage-from-oil-and-gas/

Chicago

RMI. Tackling Methane Leakage from Oil and Gas. 2020. https://rmi.org/resources/tackling-methane-leakage-from-oil-and-gas/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=Tackling Methane Leakage from Oil and Gas |date=29 April 2020 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/tackling-methane-leakage-from-oil-and-gas/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmi2020tackling, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Tackling Methane Leakage from Oil and Gas}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/tackling-methane-leakage-from-oil-and-gas/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }