Empty Promises: Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter Masks Massive Fossil Fuel Expansion

The Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter, launched at COP28 by 50 companies, is criticized for focusing on upstream operational emissions while ignoring the larger impact of burning produced fuels. Analysis shows that between January and September 2024, Charter members approved 68 new oil and gas fields containing 14 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which could release nearly 5 billion metric tonnes of CO2. Ten companies, including ADNOC, Saudi Aramco, Petrobras, TotalEnergies, and Shell, are responsible for over 90 percent of these new reserves. These projects represent a commitment of nearly USD 250 billion in expenditure. While the IEA's 1.5ºC pathway requires global production to decline by nearly 20 percent by 2030, Charter companies are projected to increase their production by 17 percent by 2030.

• Between January and September 2024, member companies of the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter approved 68 new oil and gas fields or field expansions. These projects contain 14 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) and are estimated to cause nearly 5 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution when extracted and burned.
• A small group of ten companies is driving the majority of this expansion, accounting for over 90 percent of the new reserves approved by Charter members in 2024. Leading these companies are Shell, TotalEnergies, Petrobras, Saudi Aramco, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
• The new fields approved in the first nine months of 2024 represent a financial commitment of almost USD 250 billion, consisting of USD 87 billion in capital investment and USD 159 billion in operating costs. If current trends continue, Charter companies are forecast to invest USD 728 billion in capital expenditure for new oil and gas exploration and development between 2024 and 2035.
• Charter member companies are projected to increase their oil and gas production by 17 percent by 2030 compared to 2023 levels. This trajectory contradicts the International Energy Agency (IEA) 1.5ºC-aligned pathway, which requires global production to decline by nearly 20 percent by 2030 and 45 percent by 2035.
• The Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter is criticized for focusing on reducing emissions from upstream operations (Scope 1 and 2), while ignoring the burning of produced oil and gas (Scope 3), which typically accounts for 80 to 95 percent of the industry's total emissions.

APA

Tong, D., Trout, K., & Johnson-Kurts, A. (2024). Empty Promises: Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter Masks Massive Fossil Fuel Expansion. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/empty-promises-oil-gas-decarbonization-charter-masks-massive-fossil-fuel-expansion/

Chicago

Tong, David, Kelly Trout, and Al Johnson-Kurts. Empty Promises: Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter Masks Massive Fossil Fuel Expansion. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2024. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/empty-promises-oil-gas-decarbonization-charter-masks-massive-fossil-fuel-expansion/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tong |first1=David |last2=Trout |first2=Kelly |last3=Johnson-Kurts |first3=Al |title=Empty Promises: Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter Masks Massive Fossil Fuel Expansion |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=13 November 2024 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/empty-promises-oil-gas-decarbonization-charter-masks-massive-fossil-fuel-expansion/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tong2024empty, author = {Tong, David and Trout, Kelly and Johnson-Kurts, Al}, title = {{Empty Promises: Oil \& Gas Decarbonization Charter Masks Massive Fossil Fuel Expansion}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/empty-promises-oil-gas-decarbonization-charter-masks-massive-fossil-fuel-expansion/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }