Why measuring methane matters

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines the systemic underestimation of methane emissions in the oil and gas industry. It argues that the industry's reliance on 'component-by-component' estimation methods, often based on industry-led guidance like the API Compendium, fails to account for 'super-emitter' events and significantly diverges from independent measurements obtained via satellites and remote sensors.

• The oil and gas industry is a primary source of methane, accounting for approximately 25% of global methane emissions. Methane is identified as a potent greenhouse gas with a warming impact nearly 30 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period, and it is responsible for about 30% of the increase in global temperatures according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
• There is a severe discrepancy between industry-reported methane emissions and independent measurements. The IEA calculated that if the leakage rates reported by over 80 companies to the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0) were scaled to all production, the resulting 5 million tonnes would be 94% lower than estimates from the IEA and the Global Carbon Project, which estimate emissions at 77 and 80 million tonnes per year, respectively.
• The industry's reliance on 'component-based inventory methods' or 'emission factors' leads to underestimation because these methods ignore the specific characteristics of individual assets and fail to capture 'super-emitters'—rare, high-emitting events that can account for up to 50% of total emissions from natural gas production sites.
• The American Petroleum Institute (API) Compendium, developed by a working group of 19 oil and gas companies (including BP, Shell, Chevron, and Exxon), serves as a foundational document for emissions estimation. This industry-led methodology is used by governments in Canada, Australia, and the US (via the EPA) to produce national guidance, which in turn informs company reporting.
• Specific regional studies highlight the failure of national reporting frameworks: in the UK, the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) was five times lower than direct measurements; in the US, a 2018 study found direct measurements were 60% higher than the EPA inventory, while a 2024 study found they were roughly three times higher.

APA

Team, Z. (2024). Why measuring methane matters. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/why-measuring-methane-matters/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Why measuring methane matters. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2024. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/why-measuring-methane-matters/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Why measuring methane matters |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=18 June 2024 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/why-measuring-methane-matters/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2024why, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Why measuring methane matters}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/why-measuring-methane-matters/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }