Our aggregate data is reported annually and used to set baselines and track progress for collective targets. OGCI member companies have standardized and regularly streamline the methodologies we use to collectively report greenhouse gas emissions and spending on low carbon technologies.
EY, as an independent third party, verifies data submitted by companies, anonymizes it and reviews the consolidated data
In line with best practice, we are continually improving data collection methodologies and processes in areas such as flaring, investment and research and development (R&D) in low-carbon technologies as well as adding new aggregate indicators as they become relevant.
This year, for the first time, we are publishing greenhouse gas emissions data on an equity basis to complement operated data. Eleven of our 12 companies reported data for Scope 1 and 2 equity greenhouse gas emissions – one more than last year, which was the first year we collected the data.
EY, an independent third party collects and reviews OGCI data.
In 2023, EY issued a limited assurance statement, as it has done in previous years. This year the EY statement covers nine companies’ data for 2022. This year, EY increased the requirements for assurance in line with evolving auditing standards.
With six years of aggregated operated data now available, we can see some clear trends across our members:
1. Greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to decrease and OGCI members are on track to achieve the group’s collective 2025 upstream carbon intensity target.
Aggregated upstream carbon intensity at operated assets is 21% lower than it was in 2017, largely due to reductions in methane and flaring emissions and an increase in renewable sourcing and portfolio changes.
2. Investment in low carbon technologies, including acquisitions and R&D, has risen steadily since 2017 and was up 66% in 2022 vs 2021.
In 2022, OGCI member companies invested $24.3 billion on low-carbon technologies – almost 70% more than spending in the previous year.
Renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar accounted for the largest share, while spending on carbon capture, utilization and storage tripled since 2021.
Since 2017, OGCI members have cumulatively spent $65 billion on low carbon technologies (including acquisitions and R&D).
3. Since 2017, operated absolute upstream methane emissions and flared volumes have halved.
The volume of methane emissions reductions across all relevant operated sectors since 2017 is 1.1 million tonnes of methane. This is equivalent to removing the emissions of almost 7 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles for one year.
This progress supports OGCI member companies aim to reach near zero methane emissions by 2030 from operated oil and gas assets in line with the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions initiative OGCI launched in 2021.
| Mboe/day | Million barrels of oil equivalent per day |
| kgCO2e/boe | Kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per barrels of oil equivalent |
| MtCO2e | Million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent |
| MtCH4 | Million tonnes of methane |
| Mm3 | Million cubic metres |
Note: Our member companies are continually improving their own reporting methodologies. As a result, the published data for 2019 and 2020 incorporates some methodological changes and may differ slightly from those previously reported. Read more about OGCI’s definitions and methodology in the OGCI Reporting Framework
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| OGCI indicators | Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 20201 | 20211 | 2022 |
| OGCI oil production (operated) | Mboe/day | 29.8 | 29.9 | 29.7 | 28.4 | 27.9 | 28.4 |
| OGCI gas production (operated) | Mboe/day | 15.2 | 15.7 | 16.1 | 15.1 | 15.6 | 15.5 |
| OGCI oil and gas production (operated) | Mboe/day | 45.0 | 45.6 | 45.8 | 43.8 | 43.8 | 43.9 |
| Share of natural gas in OGCI operated portfolio | % | 33.8 | 34.3 | 35.2 | 34.7 | 35.9 | 35.3 |
| OGCI oil and gas production (equity) | Mboe/day | 42.5 | 42.4 | 42.9 | 41.6 | 41.1 | 41.7 |
Notes:
2020 and 2021 data restated
Provisional estimate of global oil and gas production of roughly 162 Mboe/day in 2022, based on IEA indicators for oil supply of 94.8 Mboe/day and global natural gas production of 67.3 Mboe/day. OGCI member companies’ share of total oil and gas production is 27% on an operated basis and 26% on an equity basis. IEA Oil Market Report (January 2023); IEA 2023 Gas Market Report Q1
Upstream carbon intensity is on track to achieve OGCI’s 2025 target of 17 kg/boe. In 2022, it fell to 18 kg/boe, a 6% decrease compared to the previous year. This brings the total reduction in carbon intensity since 2017 to 21%.
Reductions in absolute greenhouse gas emissions at operated assets fell by 5% in 2022 in line with the reduction in upstream carbon intensity.
Scope 1 upstream greenhouse gas emissions fell by 5% over the year (and a total of 22% since 2017), due to factors including a reduction in flaring, vent recovery projects and portfolio changes.
Scope 2 upstream greenhouse gas emissions fell by 5% over the year (and a total of 12% since 2017), mainly due to an increase in renewable sourcing and divestments.
Downstream, which accounts for around half of OGCI member companies’ aggregate Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions, has shown slower progress than upstream, reflecting the complexity and longer timelines of decarbonization efforts in refineries and chemical facilities.
In 2022, OGCI members’ aggregate greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 operated) including upstream and downstream was 590 MtCO2e. This represents 1.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, using latest 2021 data from UNEP’S Emissions Gap Report for 2022.
Notes:
3. UNEP’S Emissions Gap Report 2022, p34. The 2021 data for total GHG emissions excluding LULUCF is 52.8GtCO2e
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| OGCI indicators | Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020V | 2021V | 2022 |
| Upstream carbon intensity I | kgCO2e/boe | 22.7 | 22.1 | 21.3 | 20.4 | 19.1 | 18.0 |
| Greenhouse gas emissions – (Scope 1) II | MtCO2e | 709 | 687 | 684 | 633 | 620 | 590 |
| of which: upstream emissions (Scope 1) III | MtCO2e | 362 | 349 | 343 | 311 | 296 | 282 |
| Upstream greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 2) IV | MtCO2e | 41.4 | 43.5 | 43.7 | 39.4 | 38.2 | 36.4 |
Notes:
This year we started publishing equity emissions for the first time, marking an important milestone in OGCI’s reporting and reflecting the group’s strategy to lead the industry toward greater transparency.
Equity reporting includes emissions from assets owned, even where they are operated by partners.
Total greenhouse gas emissions on an equity basis for Scope 1 and Scope 2 were 595.7 MtCO2e and 83 MtCO2e respectively in 2022. This is 6% and 20% higher respectively than the previous year as more companies (11 versus 10) reported data for 2022 than in 2021 – the first year we started to collect this data.
Comparing the same group of 10 companies that reported in 2021, Scope 1 equity emissions fell by 4%. Scope 2 equity emissions fell by 3% as some companies switched to renewable electricity.
Absolute methane emissions on an equity basis were 0.9 Mt of methane in 2022, a 16% decrease compared with the previous year, mainly driven by emissions reductions upstream.
| OGCI indicators | Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Equity GHG emissions – Scope 1 | MtCO2e | – | – | – | – | 560.9 (10) | 595.7 (11) |
| Equity GHG emissions – Scope 2 | MtCO2e | – | – | – | – | 69.1 (10) | 83.0 (11) |
| Total equity CH4 emissions | MtCH4 | – | – | – | – | 1.1 (9) | 0.9 (9) |
| Equity upstream CH4 emissions | MtCH4 | – | – | – | – | 1.09 (10) | 0.90 (10) |
Notes:
2021 data restated
OGCI members reported an aggregate upstream operated methane intensity of 0.15% in 2022, a 17% decrease over the year and half the level seen in 2017. OGCI members had already achieved their collective methane intensity target of well below 0.20% in 2021 – four years early.
Absolute upstream methane emissions decreased by 17% in 2022 compared with 2021 and 50% since 2017. The reduction is mainly a result of widescale equipment and system upgrades, improved flaring controls, continued leak detection and repair, and improved calculation methodologies. Divestment of assets also played a role for some companies.
The upstream sector accounted for 93.7% of OGCI total methane emissions in 2022. Venting and fugitive leaks accounted for over 66.7% of total upstream methane emissions.
OGCI member companies are striving to reach near zero methane emissions from their operated assets by 2030 through the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions initiative launched by OGCI. They are sharing what they are learning about detection, measurement and abatement across the industry.
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| OGCI indicators | Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020III | 2021III | 2022 |
| Upstream methane intensity I | % | 0.30 | 0.25 | 0.23 | 0.21 | 0.18 | 0.15 |
| Methane emissions – upstream | MtCH4 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 |
| Total operated methane emissions II | MtCH4 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
Notes:
OGCI member companies continued to reduce flaring volumes and related greenhouse gas emissions from flaring in 2022, in line with their commitment to end upstream routine flaring and achieve near zero methane emissions by 2030.
In 2022, upstream flaring intensity fell by 21% on the year, accompanying an 18% reduction in upstream flaring emissions.
Routine flaring volumes in upstream fell in 2022 compared with the previous year as one less company reported data.
In the period, some of the reduction was attributed to improved production practices such as flaring reductions for targeted assets, flare gas recovery systems, gas compression and capture projects.
Since 2017, upstream flaring of greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by 45%.
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| OGCI indicators | Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020II | 2021III | 2022 |
| Upstream flaring intensity I | Mm3/Mtoe | 10.8 | 9.5 | 9.2 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 5.8 |
| Natural gas flared – upstream | Mm3 | 24,221 | 21,465 | 20,998 | 16,490 | 15,931 | 12,714 |
| Routine gas flared – upstream | Mm3 | – | 5,636 (10) | 4,871 (10) | 4,250 (11) | 4,166 (12) | 2,923 (11) |
| Flaring greenhouse gas emissions – upstream | MtCO2e | 62 | 57 | 55 | 44 | 42 | 34 |
Notes:
Aggregate OGCI data on low-carbon investment, including acquisitions and R&D includes between nine and 11 companies. These companies reported investments totalling $24.3 billion in 2022, an increase of 66% compared with 2021.
Renewable energy accounted for more than half of the low-carbon investment and comprised the bulk of the acquisition spend. Organic investment in CCUS almost tripled over the year, with most OGCI members investing in the technology as part of their decarbonization strategies.
R&D spending on low carbon technologies continued to grow in 2022 with a 38% increase in absolute terms over the year and accounting for 32% of total R&D spend – double the share in 2021.
The total spend on low carbon technologies and projects, including investment, R&D and acquisitions, amounted to $65 billion since 2017.
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| OGCI indicators | Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020III | 2021IV | 2022 |
| Total investment in low carbon technologies I | US$ billion | 4.7 (10) | 5.5 (10) | 5.6 (10) | 6.8 (11) | 13.3 (11) | 22.5 (11) |
| of which: acquisitions | US$ billion | 0.3 (5) | 1.0 (5) | 1.1 (9) | 1.6 (9) | 7.7 (9) | 13.1 (9) |
| R&D expenditures on low carbon technologies II | US$ billion | 0.7 (9) | 1.0 (9) | 1.0 (9) | 0.8 (11) | 1.3 (11) | 1.8 (11) |
| Low-carbon R&D as a share of total R&D spend | % | 19.0 (9) | 15.0 (9) | 15.0 (9) | 11.7 (11) | 17.3 (11) | 32.0 (11) |
Notes:
Low carbon energy technologies include but are not limited to wind, solar and other renewable energies, carbon-efficient energy management, CCUS, blue and green hydrogen, biofuels, synfuels, energy storage and sustainable mobility.
R&D spending is additional to investment.
To learn more about OGCI’s work or to collaborate with us please get in touch.
