Methane Abatement in Developing Countries

1. Introduction

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, methane is estimated to be responsible for at least 25% of the rise in global temperatures. Despite representing a smaller contribution than carbon dioxide thus far, the warming potential of methane in its first 20 years in the atmosphere is more than 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (Cahill and Dawes, 2023[1]).

In 2023, the global oil and gas sector was responsible for over 78 million tonnes of methane emissions, representing the second highest source of anthropogenic emissions after agriculture, and ahead of waste, coal, bioenergy and biomass burning – see Figure 1.1 (IEA, 2024[2]). Significant reductions are needed across all types of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to achieve the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal (Jeudy-Hugo, 2024[3]). While there is an urgent need to tackle all forms of anthropogenic emissions, there is an immediate opportunity to address methane emissions which need to be cut by 33% globally by 2030. In this regard, the energy sector has the largest abatement potential, given the possibility to achieve quick wins with available cost-effective abatement solutions. Indeed, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that around 70% of methane emissions from fossil fuel operations could be reduced with existing technology, and about 40% of those emissions at no net cost because the outlays for the abatement measures are less than the market value of the additional gas that is captured (IEA, 2023[4]).

Figure 1.1. Global anthropogenic methane emissions by sector in 2022

Source: (IEA, 2023[4]).

The urgency to tackle methane emissions from the oil and gas sector is also underpinned by a recognition that oil and gas production will not cease in the short-medium term. While the managed decline of oil and gas within the global energy mix is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and to prevent irreversible damage to the environment and ecosystems, data from the 2023 Production Gap Report notes that current government plans and projections would lead to an increase in global oil and gas production until at least 2050, resulting in more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 that would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C (SEI, Climate Analytics, E3G, IISD, UNEP, 2023[5]). Lastly, even under the IEA’s Net Zero Roadmap fossil fuels would still represent a 20% share of the global energy supply in 2050 (IEA, 2021[6]). Many developing countries have also outlined plans to utilise their reserves of natural gas as a transition fuel. Consequently, the rapid reduction of methane emissions in the oil and gas sector is a crucial component of global decarbonisation efforts. Furthermore, in addition to meeting climate objectives, the reduction of methane emissions can also contribute to improved health and environmental conditions, by improving air quality especially for communities and workers around oil and gas infrastructure, reducing the rates of asthma and lessening the severity of extreme weather events. According to a recent study, targeted methane abatement in the fossil fuel sector can prevent nearly 1 million premature deaths due to ozone exposure, 90 million tonnes of crop losses due to ozone and climate changes, and about 85 billion hours of lost labour due to heat exposure by 2050 (IEA, 2023[7]).

Increasing global recognition of the urgency of tackling fossil methane emissions

At a time of global energy and climate crises, the role of natural gas in the low-carbon transition and the importance of methane abatement for enhanced energy security and climate mitigation efforts have become all the more critical for the world’s top natural gas importing countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

To balance energy security concerns and climate objectives, a number of voluntary international initiatives were launched to drive collective global action to tackle oil and gas sectors methane emissions. Back in 2016, the United States, Canada, and Mexico created the North American Climate, Clean Energy, and Environment Partnership to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40-45% by 2025 (compared with 2012 levels) by adopting methane regulations, and by urging other G20 members to make similar commitments (The White House, 2016[8]). At COP26, the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) was launched with the ambition to reduce global methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Since then, 155 countries have committed to develop national methane action plans to drive methane reductions in key methane-emitting sectors – particularly in oil and gas (Global Methane Pledge, 2021[9]).

Recognising the urgent need to reduce emissions from fossil energy value chains, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Norway, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States signed up to the Joint Declaration from Energy Importers and Exporters on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuels at COP27. The signatories to the Declaration are committed to working towards an international market for fossil energy that reduces combustion, methane and carbon dioxide emissions across the value chain to the extent feasible, and also works to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. This includes domestic an international action to: 1) adopt policies and measures to eliminate routine venting and flaring and conduct regular leak detection and repair campaigns in oil and gas exploration, production and downstream operations; 2) adopt policies and measures to support robust measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of methane emissions in the fossil energy sector and to ensure transparency of related data; 3) mobilise technical assistance and financing to mitigate methane and carbon dioxide emissions in the fossil energy sector. In this regard in the lead up to COP28, the United States launched the Methane Finance Sprint to mobilise private, public and philanthropic finance to support developing countries to cut their methane emissions in line with the GMP.

Building on the Declaration, Japan and Korea spearheaded the Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement toward Net-zero (CLEAN) initiative, whereas the European Union announced the Methane Abatement Partnerships (MAP) Roadmap.

The CLEAN initiative was launched in 2023 by JERA Co., Inc. (JERA) and Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), two leading LNG importers from Japan and Korea, and the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), a Japanese governmental agency that seeks to ensure a stable energy supply and accelerate progress on methane emissions mitigation. CLEAN aims to broaden engagement with other LNG buyers and producers, foster collaboration between LNG producers and consumers on methane abatement solutions, increase transparency on methane emissions across the LNG value chain, and disseminate best practices on mitigation efforts along the LNG value chain. Developing LNG producers could benefit from JOGMEC’s support for accelerated methane measurement and mitigation, leveraging ongoing technical collaboration with Petronas and Pertamina on emission assessment and reduction in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

As announced by President von der Leyen at COP28, the European Commission will launch a Methane Abatement Partnership (MAP) Roadmap (formerly “You Collect We Buy”) at COP29 to accelerate the reduction of methane emissions associated with fossil energy production and consumption. The Roadmap provides a globally adaptable, step-by step blueprint for the implementation of importer-exporter partnerships, and sets out several pillars for a co-operation framework, including a robust monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system built on the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP) framework. This is complemented by other relevant measures and policies, as well a project plan on the timeline, abatement targets, expenditure, investments and available tools in co-operation with organisations, such as the IEA, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP’s) International Methane Emission Observatory (IMEO), OECD, and Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). The Roadmap aims to mobilise efforts under the GMP, incentivise importer-exporter co-operation in support of companies improving their MRV abilities to mitigate methane emissions, and attract private investments, while contributing to both decarbonising energy systems but also ensuring security of supply. First implementation examples could be showcased at COP30.

Finally, a number of voluntary industry-led initiatives have also emerged in recent years to accelerate climate action within the oil and gas industry, including the Methane Guiding Principles, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP), and the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter where participating companies, including international oil companies (IOCs) and national oil companies (NOCs) committed to near-zero upstream methane emissions, ending routine flaring by 2030, and achieving net-zero operations by 2050 (UAE COP Presidency, 2023[10]), lowering methane emissions intensity and increased transparency around their emissions. Industry-led initiatives draw on the relative strengths of companies (as opposed to governments) to tackle emissions, as they have the technical capabilities to manage methane emissions, are closer to the problem at hand, and can often respond more quickly than governments when required (IEA, 2023[4]).

Why oil and gas producing countries need to take urgent action to regulate methane emissions

Voluntary approaches are not delivering sufficient methane emissions cuts

Despite the proliferation of different voluntary initiatives at all levels, global methane emissions are not reducing at the scale and pace needed to limit warming to a level consistent with Paris-aligned 1.5°C pathways. Large methane emissions events detected by satellites rose by more than 50% in 2023 compared with 2022, and recent research from the data analytics company Kayrros shows that signatories to the GMP are not on track to cut emissions by 30% by 2030 as there has been no overall reduction in the methane emissions by the majority of signatories (IEA, 2024[2]; Kayrros, 2023[11]). In addition, while the objectives of the GMP and other voluntary initiatives are global in nature, the existence of domestic policies and measures, including enabling regulations to reduce methane emissions, remains limited. A 2023 study of 281 global methane mitigation policies found that 90% of these policies have been enacted in only three regions: Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America – representing only 17% of global methane emissions (Olczak, Piebalgs and Balcombe, 2023[12]). In its 2024 Methane Tracker, the IEA estimates that if all methane policies and pledges made by countries and companies to date are implemented and achieved in full and on time, methane emissions from fossil fuels would decline by around 50% by 2030. However, in most cases, these pledges are not yet backed up by detailed plans, policies and regulations. The detailed methane policies and regulations that currently exist would cut emissions from fossil fuel operations by around 20% from 2023 levels by 2030. This falls significantly short of putting the global energy sector on track to achieve net zero emissions by mid-century, which would require reducing methane emissions from fossil fuel operations by around 75% by 2030 (IEA, 2024[2]).

There is growing international evidence that methane emissions are significantly underreported. Government inventories of methane emissions, including those submitted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) national reporting process, rarely make use of direct measurements. Instead, they are ordinarily estimated via bottom-up approaches where a typical emissions factor is applied to the total number of oil and components (e.g. wellheads, pneumatic devices, storage tanks) to estimate total emissions. However, there is a significant discrepancy between bottom-up inventory estimates and top-down methods which measure atmospheric methane concentrations using remote sensing (satellites and airborne instruments), with data from the IEA suggesting that global methane emissions from the energy sector are around 70% greater than the amount national governments have officially reported (IEA, 2023[4]). There are several explanations for this discrepancy. Governments do not submit GHG data to the UNFCCC regularly and many submissions are based on out-of-date or and incomplete picture of emissions. In addition, super-emitting events that produce a disproportionate share of total methane emissions are often not included in bottom-up inventories (Cahill and Dawes, 2023[1]).

Underreporting of methane emissions is not limited to governments. Recent UNEP data notes a significant difference between industry reported emissions and global measurement-based assessments. An analysis of company-reported emissions of the 92 member companies of the OGMP 2.0, collectively representing 34% of global oil and gas production, identified a significant disparity between their company-reported emissions and what would be expected based on atmospheric measurements (UNEP, 2023[13]). Furthermore, if companies that report emissions to the OGMP 2.0 were representative of the industry globally, this would imply that global oil and gas methane emissions in 2023 were around 95% lower than estimated by the IEA (IEA, 2024[2]).

Lastly, global energy demand is growing, and this could significantly increase methane emissions if part of the demand is met by increased production of oil and gas. While global gas demand rose just 0.5% in 2023, projections for 2024 forecast 2.5% growth primarily driven by the industrial and power sectors in fast-growing economies in Asia and gas-rich countries in Africa and the Middle East (IEA, 2024[14]). Rapid industrialisation coupled with demographic pressure and broader development objectives will result in an increase of methane emissions across oil and gas developing countries if left unchecked.

Maintaining competitiveness and preserving market access

Oil and gas developing producing countries are directly exposed to emerging international initiatives to clean up the natural gas value chain, including through new regulatory requirements imposed on their exports of oil and gas by importing jurisdictions. For example, on 10 April 2024, the European Union, the world’s largest importer of fossil energy, adopted a regulation which will require that from 2027 imported oil and gas are subject to MRV requirements at the level of the producer that are equivalent to those set out in the regulation. From 2030 a methane intensity standard will also apply on imported oil and gas. Developing producer countries who are unable to meet these new MRV and methane intensity requirements will face challenges with maintaining market access or may be forced to sell oil and gas at a significant discount.

Box 1.1. EU methane regulations – provisions on imported oil and gas

In May 2024, the European Union adopted a new Regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector . The regulations impose new requirements on imports of oil and gas from third countries. Specifically:

• Monitoring, reporting and verification measures – from 1 January 2027, importers shall demonstrate that the contracts concluded or renewed after the entry into force of the Regulation cover solely crude oil or natural gas subject to monitoring, reporting and verification measures, at the level of the producer, equivalent to those set out in the EU regulation.

• Methane intensity – from 2027, the EU will adopt a delegated act to determine a methodology for maximum emissions intensities for imports. From 2030, importers will have to demonstrate to EU regulators that the methane intensity associated to the crude oil or natural gas that they import is below the maximum methane intensity threshold.

• Methane transparency database and methane performance profiles – from February 2026, the Commission shall establish a methane transparency database, including at least data on third countries, undertakings, and importers.

• Methane emitters global monitoring tool and rapid reaction mechanism – By 2025, the EU shall establish a global methane monitoring tool based on satellite data and input from several certified data providers and services, including the Copernicus component of the EU Space Programme.

Source: (European Commission, 2023[15]).

Market access challenges may be compounded should other major importing jurisdictions follow suit and impose similar regulatory requirements. This is a plausible development considering that signatories to the Joint Declaration from Energy Importers and Exporters on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuels, have already agreed to support domestic and international action to achieve emissions reductions across the fossil fuel value chain, including by “[p]utting in place measures to require or strongly incentivise reductions in greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil energy imports”. This shows how the environmental credentials of natural gas, including liquified natural gas (LNG), are coming under increasing scrutiny. In fact, despite emitting about half the CO₂ of coal when combusted, the LNG value chain remains carbon intensive and is subject to significant methane leakage (Di Odoardo et al., 2024[16]). Producer governments should also anticipate that several of the largest LNG importers (e.g. Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom) have pledged to become net-zero by 2050, and by 2060 in China’s case (OECD, 2022[17]).

Ensuring a level playing field across public and private actors

Governments should seek to create a level-playing field for methane abatement and reporting requirements across importing and exporting jurisdictions. If carefully designed, the adoption of government policies and regulations on methane emissions reduction can create an enabling conducive environment, by clarifying business expectations and providing the right incentives for IOCs and NOCs to work together to mitigate methane emissions across their operations. Governments can draw on international best practice reviewed in this report to inform the design of new methane regulations, while accounting for specific country contexts and capabilities. This will support international coherence and co‑ordination for effective methane abatement and can also help align investment and financial flows.

Methane emissions requirements consistent with international standards can help achieve coherence both domestically across oil and gas operations and internationally, thus reducing compliance costs for businesses, and countering risks of underreporting. Ensuring a level-playing field for methane abatement and reporting requirements across importing and exporting jurisdictions will also address the risk of unfair climate competition (where a company in one jurisdiction is subject to additional compliance costs, whereas in other jurisdictions it is not) and can mitigate the risk of shifting emissions to developing countries.

Methane regulations have led to emissions reductions

There is growing evidence that the introduction of methane regulations can lead to significant methane emissions reduction. For example, in 2014, the province of Alberta (Canada) implemented regulations to limit methane emissions from heavy oil production facilities in the Peace River region, including requirements to eliminate routine venting, limit non-routine flaring, and conduct monthly leak detection surveys at high-risk sources. A 2022 study showed that these regulatory measures had reduced methane emissions from approximately three million cubic metres to a near-zero level over a five-year period. Furthermore, these reductions were achieved without significantly impacting production as oil production from heavy oil production facilities declined by a similar amount in both the province (41%) and Peace River region (45%), while venting in Peace River decreased by 100% (Connoy, McKenzie and Gorski, 2022[18]).

A 2023 study of methane emissions in the United States’ Permian Basin showed that Texas saw twice as many methane leaks as New Mexico between 2019 and October 2023 despite sharing the same geology and many of the same operators. This difference has been attributed to the introduction of methane emissions regulations in New Mexico in 2021 to reduce routine methane venting and flaring, alongside increased compliance activities, particularly in respect of smaller facilities (Kayrros, 2023[11]); (Reuters, 2023[19]). Further evidence of the effectiveness of methane regulations can be seen in the implementation of LDAR measures. A study of thirty-six facilities in the United States and Canada found that methane emissions decreased by 44% following the successful application of a LDAR survey (Ravikumar, 2020[20]), and in California, LDAR regulations reduced fugitive emissions by up to 9% (Tran et al., 2022[21]).

Why focus on methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas sector?

Methane emissions arise from processes and equipment across the different segments of the oil and gas value chain – from exploration drilling through to delivery to the consumer. They are either the result of fugitive emissions (leaks and other irregular releases from equipment), or the intentional flaring and venting of methane, usually as a by-product of oil production (IGSD, 2023[22]). The oil and gas value chain can be categorised as follows:

• Upstream – oil and gas wells (both onshore and offshore), oil separation facilities, gas processing facilities, and short-distance pipelines connecting these facilities

• Midstream – transportation infrastructure, including pipelines and associated compressor stations, liquefied natural gas facilities and tankers, and storage facilities

• Downstream – distribution networks designed to reach end-consumers, including residential, commercial, and industrial (CLDP, 2023[23]).

See Table 1.1 for an overview of where sources of methane emissions arise.

Table 1.1. Sources of emissions in the oil and gas value chain

	Upstream			Midstream		Downstream
Phase	Exploration and pre-production	Production	Gathering and processing	Transmission	Storage	Distribution
Source of emissions	Site preparation	Pneumatic controllers	Compressor venting	Compressor venting and leaks	Compressors	Pipe leakages
	Drilling	Liquids unloading	Pneumatics venting leaks	Pneumatic controllers	Pneumatic controllers	Metering and regulating station leaks and vents
	Well completion	Workovers	Liquid storage tanks	Pipe leakages	Fugitives
	Fracking (unconventional)	Flared gas	Flared gas	Storage site venting and leaks
		Fugitives	Vented gas

Note: Table excludes specific emissions from LNG.

Source: Adapted from (Balcombe, Brandon and Hawkes, 2018[25]); (Balcombe et al., 2015[26]).

The amount of methane emitted from operations across the oil and gas value chain is extensive. According to the IEA, the total methane lost in 2023 from global fossil fuel operations was 170 billion cubic metres, more than the natural gas production of Qatar (IEA, 2024[2]). While methane emissions arise across the different segments of the oil and gas value chain, it is the upstream segment of the value chain where emissions are most prominent and where oil and gas producing countries can have the greatest impact in reducing emissions – see Figure 1.2 (IEA, 2023[4]). For this reason, this report focuses on methane emissions from upstream oil and gas production as they can achieve deep emissions cuts.

Figure 1.2. Estimated global methane emissions by value chain segment

Source: Adapted from (IEA, 2023[4]).

Structure of the report and next steps

This report sets out recommendations to guide developing oil and gas producing countries through the regulatory actions they can take to reduce methane emissions in the upstream oil and gas sector. In that regard, this report sets out two initial steps followed by five regulatory building blocks. The two steps recommend the development of methane emission inventories and baselines and the setting of specific methane reduction targets embedded in low-emissions development trajectories and nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to pursue an integrated climate, energy and development agenda. The building blocks identify the key components for the design of robust upstream methane emission regulations. This includes guidance on how to set measurement/monitoring, reporting, and verification requirements; setting planning and licencing requirements; setting requirements to reduce flaring and venting; and addressing fugitive methane emissions. In recognition that purely prescriptive approaches may not be effective in developing country contexts to deliver deep cuts to methane emissions, the report offers guidance on a recommended reward-penalty system, providing incentives for methane abatement to effectively drive collective action on methane mitigation. Lastly, recognising that the rolling out of methane emission reduction technology and practices across the upstream oil and gas sector come with associated costs, the report maps out different sources of finance that developing oil and gas producing countries may be able to draw from.

Each section of the report builds on the recommendations of Pillar 1 of the Equitable Framework and Finance for Extractive-based Countries in Transition (EFFECT) on upstream oil and gas decarbonisation and offers country practice examples, drawing on existing regulations in different oil and gas jurisdictions (OECD, 2022[17]). The analysis covers regulations from both developed and developing economies and regulations administered at both the national and sub-national level. It also draws on the current tools, databases and research, including the IEA’s Methane Regulatory Roadmap and Toolkit, Methane policy and regulation database, and Methane Tracker, the Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMR)’s Global Flaring and Venting Regulations and the (CCAC) Resource Library. Alongside concrete regulatory examples, this report also takes into account relevant methane industry initiatives and scientific data made available through existing projects such as the UNEP’s IMEO.

This report can be used as a basis for knowledge sharing, mutual learning and multi-stakeholder dialogue on regulatory action on methane emissions reduction. Its objective is to support engagement with developing countries producing oil and gas to “accelerate and substantially reduce non-carbon-dioxide emissions globally, including in particular methane emissions by 2030”, as agreed at COP28, while also preserving the competitiveness of their gas exports in light of emerging methane import requirements. This report further aims to support the operationalisation of the Global Methane Pledge, moving from commitments to action and emerging methane abatement exporter-importer cooperative frameworks by highlighting concrete examples of methane emission reduction requirements and incentives across jurisdictions to inform regulatory reforms as part of national methane action plans and sustainable energy pathways. The results of the analysis can also feed into the OECD’s Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA) by reviewing mitigation approaches on methane emission reduction in the upstream oil and gas sector and by providing a basis for evidence-based mutual learning and inclusive multilateral dialogue for all countries to collectively reduce global methane emissions at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. The report can also facilitate international co-operation by harmonising approaches wherever feasible, while considering specific contexts and different capabilities, as well as public-private collaboration for effective methane abatement solutions. Country platforms on methane abatement and just transition pathways can help co-ordinate government strategies, donors, development finance institutions, industry and private investors. Through these platforms, sustainable investment and financial flows can be aligned, while managing the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building to support developing countries producing oil and gas in their transition journey.

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